Peanut butter probe expands; Kellogg recalls products

WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration says that 85 companies received peanut butter or peanut paste from a Georgia plant that has been linked to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened 453 people in 43 states and Canada, and is considered a factor in six deaths.

FDA is urging companies to check their records and supply chains to determine if they had received any of the potentially tainted product from the Peanut Corporation of America's Blakely, Ga., plant.

Friday evening, Peanut Corp. expanded its recall of peanut butter and paste produced in that plant to include all peanut butter produced on or after August 8 and all peanut paste produced on or after September 26. The peanut butter was sold in containers ranging in size from five to 1,700 pounds. The peanut paste was sold in sizes ranging from 35 pounds to tanker containers, the company said in a release.

The company's products have tested positive for salmonella, but tests to determine if that salmonella is an exact DNA match to the outbreak strain are still ongoing, the company said.

Peanut paste consists of ground, roasted peanuts and is used as an ingredient in cookies, crackers, cereals and ice creams, says Stephen Sundlof of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

Already several companies that bought peanut paste from Peanut Corp. have pulled back products made using it, although they have not yet tested positive for the outbreak strain.

Supermarkets nationwide Friday continued removing Keebler and Austin-brand peanut butter crackers from store shelves, and later in the night, Kellogg Co. voluntarily recalled 16 products, citing possible salmonella contamination.

The recall includes the crackers, as well as snack-size packs of Famous Amos Peanut Butter Cookies and Keebler Soft Batch Homestyle Peanut Butter Cookies.

Of those taken ill, 22% have been hospitalized. Salmonella is believed to have contributed to deaths in Idaho, Minnesota, North Carolina and Virginia.