Peanut Butter Recall

In a news story out of Solon, Ohio, a distributor of peanut butter has recalled two brands of the butter after a test of an open container revealed salmonella traces.

FDA officials said that although a national salmonella outbreak in King Nut Companies peanut butter had not been ruled out, the results are still inconclusive and limited.

In a statement to the public, King Nut Companies called for its customers to stop distribution of all peanut butter containers under the brand names King Nut and Parnell’s Pride, particularly the items with a lot code that starts with the number eight.

This particular peanut butter was shipped only through food service companies throughout Ohio, Michigan, North Dakota, Minnesota, Arizona, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Florida and Idaho. None of its customers purchased it directly.

The Minnesota Department of Health released a statement on Friday, revealing that precursory lab tests discovered salmonella bacteria in an open 5 lb. jar by King Nut brand creamy peanut butter.

The Minnesota Department of Health also stated that it had not found that the salmonella in the peanut butter matched the type found in a recent outbreak that has plagued close to 400 cases in 42 different states, but authorities said that further testing is in process and further results will be released soon.

The FDA also upholds this claim, spokeswoman Stephanie Kwisnek said Sunday.

Martin Kanan, president of King Nut, released a statement Sunday saying that the recall of his product was equated to approximately 1,000 cases, and that he did not know the actual namesof the distributors involved, but he had the intention of releasing more information Monday.

“We don’t know exactly where they sell to,” Kanan said. “They could sell cross-state, too.”

“We just want everybody to know that safety is our highest priority,” Kanan said. “We just wanted to recall it right away.”

The CDC confirmed Friday that 453 cases of salmonella had been established across the United States and Canada, with one in fiv cases actually incubated. The most cases lay in California counting at 55, with Ohio coming in at 2nd with 53 so far. The outbreak report began on Sept 3rd. So far, the CDC has recorded five deaths associated with the outbreak.

CDC has said that the salmonella type found in the recent outbreak is the most common strand found.