628 sickened by recalled peanut butter - (Update)

[WePurrsevere]

Source: Associated Press

The number of people sickened since August by peanut butter tainted with salmonella has grown by more than 200, according to a new federal report. The outbreak, first reported in February, now includes 628 cases in 47 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.

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ConAgra Foods Inc. recalled all its peanut butter after government investigators linked the bacteria outbreak to the Omaha-based company's Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter.

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Wal-Mart has continued selling Great Value peanut butter -- its store brand -- that is made by different suppliers, but Peter Pan has yet to return to stores.

<snip>

Consumers who had jars of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter with a product code on the lid beginning with "2111" were urged to throw out the peanut butter. The jars or their lids can be returned to the store where they were purchased for a refund.

Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8PFTI9O0.htm

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Lovely... :sarcasm: There are a LOT of folks who buy Peter Pan and Great Value (We have although we prefer Skippy Natural or other Natural). I wonder how many cases were NOT reported because someone got a light touch of it and thought it was a stomach bug. x(

[displacedtexan]

1. I'm still waiting for my refund from Peter Pan.

I sent them the jar lid (I hadn't opened the jar yet)
with 2111 on it, but I haven't heard a word since.

I emailed Ed Begley, Jr. and asked if I should just
toss the contaminated crap with the garbage, knowing
it would end up in a landfill.

Ed said that there was already so much contaminated
crap in landfills that one jar of Peter Pan wouldn't
make it any worse.

[demgurl]

8. You can make your own peanut butter.

I found a recipe and did so once and it tasted just fine. At least you know what is going into your food when you yourself make it.

[skids]

2. May I suggest...

...this stuff:



...it ain't organic or whatnot, but it's very easy to find, and can help if you don't eat a lot of fish. It's peanut butter with Omega3/Omega6 fatty acids in it (from flax, not fish.) It's pretty good except once I did get a batch with a bit too much molasses in it.

[WePurrsevere]

5. Thanks! That PB is actually pretty good. We tried it a couple of weeks ago when

it was on sale. :) I don't recall where it's made though and I find I'm checking that more and more often (and not thrilled with the results too often). With the local Farmers Markets now open we're going to start checking them out more then ever before and look to connect to local organic farmers for as much as possible as well as grow as much as we can. I've decided we need to learn how to can and preserve things too.

As for Flax... we've been taking Flax Oil supplements (as well as a few others) for years. I don't like the Fish Oil anywhere near as much. What we take and what we now eat is really helping us lose weight and feel better (no easy feat with my MS.) :)

[patricia92243]

3. I wonder when Peter Pan will return? I've been using Jif but miss my Peter Pan. n/t

[acmavm]

4. This is going to be more of a problem as time goes on. I wonder

if people realize that control of the food supply, just like our water, is being taken over by a small group of corporations?

[candice]

16. Who will tell them? The corporate-owned media that is selling

Britney and Nicole?

[CBHagman]

6. I actually avoid all ConAgra products since..

...I read Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation some years back. I came away with a very poor impression of ConAgra.

[NYC]

11. I read Fast Food Nation,

but can't remember what specifically was said about ConAgra. Could you remind me, please?

I avoid processed foods these days, so probably wouldn't encounter a ConAgra product, anyway.

[CBHagman]

12. I'd have to go back and look, but...

...from what I recall, the CEO underwent a political transformation, moving from left to right politically, for starters. There have long been questions raised about the company's ethics (or lack of them) in terms of safety, treatment of employees, etc.

See this article from The Nation for a follow-up to the book.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020916/schlosser

[NYC]

13. Thanks for the follow up.

I remember IBF, International Beef Federation. I have recently seen boxes marked IBF outside a butcher. That makes me cringe.

I just don't remember ConAgra specifically.

I'm going to read the link you provided now. Thanks.

[Oreegone]

7. Peanut butter suggestion

I suggest Adams Natural, carried in grocery stores. Some people complain it separates. Just stir it up and put it in the fridge and it will never separate again. Most of the big companys add sugar and replace the peanut oil with partially hydrogenated oils...yucky and unhealthy...The less tampering done with the product the less chance of something weird appearing in it.

My rule is: If you can't read it, don't eat it.

[NYC]

10. Yum peanut butter from Canada is also natural.

Nothing but peanuts. Yum contains no salt, so I sometimes sprinkle salt on it. It isn't expensive, either.

I do the same thing you do. Stir it, then refrigerate. It's easier that way.

[candice]

15. Canadian peanut butter mostly derived from Chinese peanuts

From Dan Hunter, representing the National Peanut Growers Group.

http://ffas.usda.gov/itp/wto/texas/hunter.html

"China is now the largest producer of peanuts in the world, and while only a small quantity of their peanuts can enter the U.S. annually, instead they enter through other countries such as Canada. In countries like Canada, these Chinese peanuts are then made into butter and/or paste, as was mentioned earlier, and are entering the U.S. in expanding quantities. China has also recently become a major world supplier in a market that has become driven by cash needs, with little or no consideration for quality or market price. The U.S. peanut-producing industry has been damaged as a result of the U.S. failing to ensure strict rules of origin when the Canadian Free Trade and North American Free Trade Agreements were negotiated."

[NYC]

17. Thank you. I had been planning on writing to them,

but they weren't a priority. I guess they should have been.

I won't eat anymore until I've heard from them. Thank you very much for the information.

[NYC]

18. Do you have any idea where they get their peanuts?

Does it say on your jar? I just received information that Yum (Canadian) is likely made from Chinese peanuts. I may need to find new peanut butter.

[devilgrrl]

19. How about stores that allow you to mash your own peanut butter?

You can do that at Whole Foods. Have you heard anything about that? Would that be safe?

[hexola]

9. Ever look at Peanut Butter under a blacklight? UCK!!!!

The stuff GLOWS!!! A disgusting yellow-ish color...

[NYC]

14. Your post has been haunting me.

Does the whole thing glow? Just parts of it (maybe added chemicals)?

I'm wondering if Yum natural peanut butter (nothing but ground up peanuts) would glow. If it would, I think I'm losing my appetite for peanut butter.