Updates available on recalled peanut butter products

[February 04, 2009]  SPRINGFIELD -- Dr. Damon T. Arnold, state public health director, is urging consumers to check the most recent list of recalled peanut butter products associated with the nationwide Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak. The Illinois Department of Public Health has a link to the list available at http://www.idph.state.il.us/. Consumers without Internet access are urged to call the CDC at 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636) to get the most recent list. The toll-free line is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to get the latest product recall information from the Food and Drug Administration, as well as information on salmonellosis.

The Illinois Department of Public Health is working with local health departments across the state to check stores for recalled products, but the number of recalled items continues to grow, and it can be difficult to keep pace. The department is encouraging everyone to keep an eye out for recalled products and notify store managers and the local health department when items that have been recalled because of the nationwide salmonellosis outbreak are found on grocery store shelves, in vending machines, at gas stations or convenience stores. If you have purchased any of the recalled products, throw them away.

In Illinois, there have been six salmonellosis cases matching the national outbreak. Those cases were identified in Fayette, Franklin, Lake, St. Clair, Will and Winnebago counties. The date of onset for the illnesses ranged from Oct. 4 to Dec. 17, and ages of patients ranged from 2 to 73 years. One person was hospitalized due to illness and no deaths have occurred in Illinois.

Even though the salmonellosis cases in Illinois do match the genetic fingerprint of the national outbreak, the food histories of patients are not clear enough at this time to definitively say that the source of illness in Illinois is peanut butter. The Illinois Department of Public Health continues to work with local health departments and the CDC on this outbreak investigation.

Symptoms of salmonellosis, which last from 24 hours to 12 days, include headache, muscle aches, diarrhea, vomiting, chills, fever, nausea and dehydration. The symptoms usually appear six to 72 hours after ingestion. People who think they may have become ill from eating peanut butter should consult their health care providers.

Information from both the Minnesota and Connecticut state health departments, along with the results available from laboratory testing and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention epidemiological analysis, have led the FDA to confirm that the source of this outbreak is peanut butter and peanut paste produced by Peanut Corp. of America at its Blakely, Ga., processing plant.

According to the FDA, major national brands of peanut butter in jars that consumers find on store shelves are not affected by the PCA recall. However, there are other products, such as crackers, cookies and ice cream, that may contain the recalled peanut butter or peanut paste. The identification of those products is ongoing; therefore, the FDA is urging people to visit http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/
scripts/peanutbutterrecall/index.cfm to see the most up-to-date recall list. The Illinois Department of Public Health also has a link to the FDA site.

[Text from Illinois Department of Public Health file received from the Illinois Office of Communication and Information]