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FDA Widens Peanut Butter Warning

First Lawsuit Filed Against ConAgra; Many More expected

By Truman Lewis
ConsumerAffairs.com

February 18, 2007

• FDA Failed to Follow Up on 2004 Peanut Butter Contamination • Peter Pan Returning To Store Shelves • Consumers Still Getting Sick From Tainted Peanut Butter • Fourth Peanut Butter Death Reported • Peanut Butter Recall Extended to Products Made as Early as 2004 • Peanut Butter Scare Stirs Congress • Consumers Left Holding the Peanut Butter Jar • Earlier Peanut Butter Contamination Kept Quiet • Peanut Butter Developed as a Health Food • Third Death Blamed on Peanut Butter • Peanut Butter Recalls Spread to Ice Cream & Desserts • FDA Says Peanut Butter Salmonella Outbreak Is "Ongoing" • Salmonella Confirmed in Peanut Butter • Second Death Linked To Tainted Peanut Butter • Death Linked To Tainted Peanut Butter • ConAgra Recalls Tainted Peanut Butter as Complaints Mount • FDA Widens Peanut Butter Warning • Reports of Peanut Butter-Borne Illness Increase • FDA Warns of Salmonella in Peanut Butter --- • Consumer Complaints about Peanut Butter --- • Salmonella: What It Is • More about Food Safety ...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in a broader warning, says that all Peter Pan peanut butter purchased since May 2006 should be discarded.

The agency had earlier said that certain batches of Peter Pan and Wal-Mart's Great Value brand peanut butter -- those with a product code on the lid beginning with 2111 -- might contain salmonella.

Meanwhile, in Sylvester, Georgia, government and company investigators are swarming over the ConAgra Foods plant, trying to determine how salmonella got into batches of the peanut butter, admidst rapidly increasing reports of consumer illness and at least one lawsuit against ConAgra.

The plant has been shut down since Wednesday, when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned that Peter Pan brand peanut butter and some batches of Wal-Mart's Great Value house brand were linked to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened at least 300 people nationwide since August.

The number of those sickened is likely much higher than the official estimate as many cases are never diagnosed, as consumers -- like Glenda of Richland, Washington -- simply suffer through the illness on their own.

"I know for sure that three jars that I have eaten from have the correct serial numbers on them," Glenda said in a complaint to ConsumerAffairs.com, "I have been to the emergency room 3 times with severe cramping, vomiting and diarrhea since August and have had many other bouts that are undocumented since that time as well, plus persistent fatigue and aching eyes and wrists."

"My husband has also had several minor bouts of stomach cramping and vomiting," Glenda said.

Deborah of Salem, N.C., had a similar experience.

"I purchased the Peter Pan Peanut Butter with the product code 2111 which has just been recalled. After consuming a peanut butter and banana sandwich I became very ill with stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting," she said. "I thought it was just a stomach virus thinking that there was nothing in a peanut butter and banana sandwich that could make me sick."

"It was lucky for me that I because sick on Friday night and was sick through the weekend but did not miss any work. It just left me weak and not feeling well for about a week," she said.

But while young, healthy adults may be able to fight off the illness on their own, the very young and the very old are much more susceptible to complications.

"My mother-in-law is almost 90 ... She ate some Peter Pan peanut butter (and) a few days later she stared saying she could't breathe. They took her to the hospital, did all kinds of blood tests ... then we find out about salmonella," said Kenneth of Bosque Farms, N.M.

First Lawsuit

The first of what's likely to be a rash of lawsuits was filed against ConAgra in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., Friday by Susanna and Brian Cox of St. Joseph, Mo.

The lawsuit says Susanna Cox and the couple's two children began developing gastrointestinal illnesses in October after eating Great Value peanut butter, made by ConAgra.

What To Watch For

The affected jars of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter have a product code located on the lid of the jar that begins with the number "2111." Both the Peter Pan and Great Value brands are manufactured in a single facility in Georgia by ConAgra. Great Value peanut butter made by other manufacturers is not affected.

If consumers have any of this Peter Pan or Great Value brand peanut butter in their home that has been purchased since May 2006, they should discard it.

Symptoms of foodborne illness caused by Salmonella include fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps. In persons with poor underlying health or weakened immune systems, Salmonella can invade the bloodstream and cause life-threatening infections.

Individuals who have recently eaten Peter Pan and Great Value brand peanut butter beginning with product code 2111 and have experienced any of these symptoms should contact their doctor or health care provider immediately. Any such illnesses should be reported to state or local health authorities.

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