FDA: 31M lbs. of peanut products recalled

[January 23, 2009]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal health officials say the salmonella recall now involves about 31 million pounds of peanut butter and peanut paste.

That's a whole lot of peanut butter.

But consider this: The nonprofit National Peanut Board says Americans eat 700 million pounds of the gooey treat every year.

Peanut Corp. of America -- the company that made the recalled products -- isn't an industry giant. But its peanut paste is used by others to make dozens of goodies, from energy bars, to cakes, to dog biscuits. And the recall list keeps getting longer.

It's making the food industry nervous, although no major national brands of peanut butter are affected. Even the Girl Scouts are reassuring customers Peanut Corp. is not their supplier.

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On the Net:

FDA recall page: http://tinyurl.com/8s3mwr

[Associated Press]

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