From foodconsumer.org
S. Korea recalls peanut butter
By Ben Wasserman - foodconsumer.org
Feb 24, 2007 - 8:37:23 AM
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Seoul,
South Korea –
Feb 24, 2007 – The South Korea Food and Drug Administration Saturday issued a
recall for US-made Peter Pan peanut butter, which has been already put on the
market in the country. The government agency said testing is underway to see if
the peanut butter contains Salmonella.
On Feb 24, a
South
Korea official with the FDA said the country
has imported 488 cases of Peter Pan peanut butter since December. More than 30
cases have been put on the market while the remaining 450 cases are still under
the custody of the importer.
The health official said the government had been recalling those
30 cases of Peter Pan peanut butter already on the market while products are
being tested to see if the peanut butter is tainted with Salmonella.
The test results will determine whether or
not the sales of this type of peanut butter should be banned.
On Feb 21, ConAgra, the producer of peanut butter tainted
with Salmonella, said in its news release that the company was recalling the
affected Peter Pan peanut butter and Great Value peanut butter with a product
code starting 2111 printed on the lid of the jar.
The company said that for a full refund, consumers in
South Korea must return the Peter Pan Peanut
Butter product lid along with their name and mailing address to:
TS Corporation, Commodities Sales
Team/Overseas Trade & Commerce Division, 7-23 Sinchun-Dong Songpa-Gu,
Seoul,
Korea.
According to a report by the World Health Organization,
Peter Pan peanut butter and Great Value peanut butter produced by ConAgra are
contaminated with Salmonella Tennessee, which has been linked to more than 300
cases of salmonella poisoning in the
U.S.
Both the United States Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and ConAgra on Feb 22 announced that Salmonella was found in opened
jars of peanut butter used by people sickened in the salmonella outbreak.
Peanut butter samples were collected from
New York,
Oklahoma and
Iowa.
On Feb 23, the United States Food and Drug Administration
also confirmed that “Product testing by several states has now confirmed that
Peter Pan peanut butter and certain Great Value brand peanut butter are the
sources of the foodborne illness outbreak of Salmonella Tennessee that began in
August 2006. To date 329 individuals have become ill from consuming the
contaminated peanut butter, and 51 of those persons were hospitalized.”
The US FDA said ConAgra had recalled the peanut butters
under brand names of Peter Pan and Great Value from stores and production was
halted in their Sylvester, Georgia processing plant until the exact cause of Salmonella
contamination can be identified and eliminated.
Symptoms of Salmonella illness include fever, diarrhea, and
abdominal cramps. The illness can be cleared within 3 to 7 days without any
medical intervention in healthy people. But those who have poor underlying
health or weakened immune systems, salmonella can invade the bloodstream and
cause life-threatening infections.
In the
United
States, Salmonella infects 60,000 people,
killing 600 each year. But contamination of peanut butter with salmonella is
extremely rare.