Peanut Butter Woes Spreading

Jan. 21, 2009— -- The effects of salmonella contamination of peanut butter may not be quite as pervasive as those of a contaminated water supply, but it's close.

Peanut butter reaches so far into the American diet that a single processing plant in Georgia has spread contaminated peanut butter into cafeterias, cakes, cookies, crackers, candies, cereal and ice cream in at least 43 states.

Representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the owner of the Georgia plant, Peanut Corporation of America, told ABCNews.com to expect the investigation to continue to unfold for weeks or months to come.

"It's really on two fronts," said a spokesman for Peanut Corporation of America. "One is on the Georgia facility, then everything after the plant: What do those customers do with those products?" he asked.

News of the outbreak first broke in September, when the CDC traced salmonella to a brand of peanut butter called King Nut, sold to cafeterias and not grocery stores.

Since then, 485 people have fallen ill and an estimated six people have died. As of Sunday, 101 brands of products had been recalled, including popular brands such as Little Debbie, Keebler, Kroger, Famous Amos and, most recently, General Mills and Club Foods.

Only seven states remain free of salmonella reports: Montana, Alaska, New Mexico, Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina and Delaware.

Peanut butter from the Blakely, Ga., plant ships to food companies in 5- to 1,700-pound containers. Once out of those containers, food companies may use the peanut butter in a variety of products.

Studies out of the University of Georgia have shown salmonella can live in the peanut butter paste used in vending machine snacks for months. Once someone eats a contaminated product, it may take the CDC weeks to a month to fully investigate the case.

"There's a lag time of two weeks," said Lola Russell, a spokeswoman for the CDC. Russell explained it takes time for a person to become ill, seek help and get test results. "If you get something that has food-borne illness, there's a wait."

Food safety experts and the spokesman from the Peanut Corporation of America, who declined to be named for this story, used, said it might be easier to find out how the salmonella got into the peanut butter than to track what happened to the peanut butter after it was shipped.