Salmonella Blog - Surveillance & analysis on salmonella news & outbreaks

 In light of shocking revelations disclosed by the FDA about the Peanut Corporation of America’s (PCA) Blakey, GA facility, foodborne illness law firm Marler Clark amended the Federal lawsuit it had filed against PCA to allege punitive damages.  The complaint was filed last week on behalf of Vermont residents Gabrielle and Daryl Meunier, whose son was sickened in the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak tied to peanut butter products manufactured in the PCA plant.

Punitive damages are awarded over and above compensatory damages to punish a negligent party because of wanton, reckless, or malicious acts or omissions. 

“We do not allege punitive damages in most cases,” said attorney Bill Marler.  “Just the most egregious.  In fifteen years of litigating food cases, this is one of the worst examples of corporate irresponsibility I have ever seen.  Not only does the plant appear to have had atrocious practices, but the product that seems to have repeatedly tested positive for Salmonella but was shipped to hospitals, nursing homes and schools regardless.”

The FDA found: 
• 12 positive tests of Salmonella in product manufactured by PCA 
• 4 different strains of Salmonella detected on site in Blakely, GA 
• Failure to maintain equipment, containers and utensils used to convey, hold, and store food in a manner that protects against contamination 
• Failure to perform mechanical manufacturing steps so as to protect food against contamination 
• Failure to store finished food under conditions that would protect against microbial contamination 
• Plant is not constructed in such a manner as to allow ceilings to be kept in good repair 
• Design of equipment and utensils fails to preclude the adulteration of food with contaminants 
• Proper precautions to protect food and food-contact surfaces from contamination with microorganisms cannot be taken because of deficiencies in plant construction and design 
• Devices and fixtures are not designed and constructed to protect against recontamination of clean, sanitized hands
• Failure to conduct cleaning and sanitizing operations for utensils and equipment in a manner that protects against contamination of food 
• Effective measures not being taken to protect against contamination of food on the premises by pests

Salmonella Typhimurium illnesses began appearing in late August 2008.  It wasn’t until January 2009 that the link was found to King Nut peanut butter, and then traced to the Blakely, GA plant.  The plant produced both peanut butter and peanut paste that was then sold to other companies for use in cookies, cakes, ice cream, candy, nutrition bars, and dog treats.  To date 43 states and Canada have reported illnesses.  There have been 501 confirmed illnesses, 125 hospitalizations and eight deaths.  Over 31 million pounds of peanut products have been recalled.  That number is expected to rise.

In a January 27 press release, the industry trade group The American Peanut Council (APC) expressed its “shock and dismay” at the actions of the Peanut Corporation of America, which they said “must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.” They went on to say that “The findings of the FDA report can only be seen as a clear and unconscionable action of one irresponsible manufacturer.” 

 Persons Infected with the Outbreak Strain of Salmonella Typhimurium, United States, by State, September 1, 2008 to January 25, 2009

As of 9PM EDT, Sunday, January 25, 2009, 501 persons infected with the outbreak strain of SalmonellaTyphimurium have been reported from 43 states. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (1), Arizona (11), Arkansas (4), California (62), Colorado (12), Connecticut (9), Georgia (6), Hawaii (3), Idaho (11), Illinois (6), Indiana (4), Iowa (3), Kansas (2), Kentucky (3), Maine (4), Maryland (8), Massachusetts (42), Michigan (25), Minnesota (35), Missouri (9), Mississippi (3), Nebraska (1), New Hampshire (11), New Jersey (23), New York (19), Nevada (5), North Carolina (6), North Dakota (10), Ohio (67), Oklahoma (2), Oregon (10), Pennsylvania (14), Rhode Island (4), South Dakota (2), Tennessee (9), Texas (6), Utah (5), Vermont (4), Virginia (20), Washington (13), West Virginia (2), Wisconsin (3), and Wyoming (2). Additionally, one ill person was reported from Canada.

 We think the best advice is to just stop eating anything you think might contain peanut butter.  It is a small price to pay for avoiding a really nasty bout with Salmonella.   The individual company recalls just keep rolling in.   If you want to check some product against the master list maintained by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, go HERE.

Since Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) does not sell any product used by the major national brands that sell peanut butter in jars for use on your toast or whatever.  For that reason, FDA does not expect the recalls to involve those major brands.   

PCA's peanut factory in Georgia was found to be contaminated with Salmonella Typhimurium and, for the moment, has been shut down.

All the big chains are rolling in with their peanut butter-related recalls.

Kroger is recalling the following ice cream:

• Private Selection Peanut Butter Passion Ice Cream sold in 48-ounce containers with a "Sell by" date of 9-13-2009 under the following UPC Code Number: 0001111054437.
• Private Selection Peanut Butter Passion Ice Cream sold in 56-ounce containers with a "Sell by" date of 8-11-2009 under the following UPC Code Number: 0001111052816.

The ice cream was sold in City Market, Fred Meyer, Fry's, King Soopers, QFC and Smith's stores in the following states: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

All Kroger had to say is here.

 Iowa-based Hy-Vee Inc. today recalled the following products made in its bakery departments because they contain peanut butter that has the potential to be contaminated with salmonella:

• Peanut Butter Cookies,
• Monster Cookies,
• Peanut Butter Reese's Pieces Cookies,
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies,
• Lunchbox Reese's Pieces Cookies,
• Lunchbox Peanut Butter Cookies,
• People Chow Party Mix
• and Assorted Truffle Fudge.

All sell-by dates are included in this recall. The products are sold in various packaging and quantities and have a Hy-Vee price label attached. All items should be destroyed or returned to Hy-Vee for a full refund.

Earlier Saturday, Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), the company that supplies bulk peanut butter to Hy-Vee, issued a recall of the peanut butter ingredient used to make the Hy-Vee bakery products.

King Nut and Kellogg's also have recalls out on their peanut butter products made with PCA ingredients.

Go here for the entire Hy-Vee statement.

Very early Saturday morning, Kellogg Company recalled certain Austin® and Keebler® branded Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers and select snack-size packs of Famous Amos® Peanut Butter Cookies and Keebler® Soft Batch Homestyle Peanut Butter Cookies because the products have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

Products included in the recall were produced on or after July 1, 2008:

• Austin® Quality Foods Cheese Crackers with Peanut Butter - all sizes
• Austin® Quality Foods Cheese & Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers - all
• sizes
• Austin® Quality Foods Mega Stuffed Cheese Crackers with Peanut Butter -
• all sizes
• Austin® Quality Foods PB & J Cracker Sandwiches - all sizes
• Austin® Quality Foods Super Snack Pack Sandwich Crackers
• Austin® Quality Foods Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers - all
• sizes
• Austin® Quality Foods Toasty Crackers with Peanut Butter - all sizes
• Austin® Quality Foods Reduced Fat Cheese & Peanut Butter Sandwich
• Crackers
• Austin® Quality Foods Reduced Fat Toasty Crackers with Peanut Butter
• Sandwich Crackers
• Austin® Quality Foods Cookie/Cracker Pack
• Austin® Quality Foods Variety Pack
• Keebler® Cheese & Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers - all sizes
• Keebler® Toast & PB'n J Flavored Sandwich Crackers - all sizes
• Keebler® Toast & Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers - all sizes
• Famous Amos® Peanut Butter Cookies (2- and 3-ounce)
• Keebler® Soft Batch Homestyle Peanut Butter Cookies (2.5-ounce)

With 2007 sales of nearly $12 billion, Kellogg Company is one of 85 companies that purchases peanut butter products from Peanut Corporation of America's Georgia plant that has been producing Salmonella-tainted products.  Look for Kellogg's early action to be followed by others very soon.

For more from Battle Creek, go here.

In its update today on the investigation into the ongoing Salmonella outbreak, the U.S. Drug Administration acknowledged:

In many instances, the peanut butter and peanut paste manufactured by PCA (the Georgia plant implicated in the outbreak) are further distributed to manufacturers to be used as ingredients in many products, including cookies, crackers, cereal, candy and ice cream.

What does this mean?

According to the AP, is that the FDA is expanding its investigation of peanut products in a Salmonella outbreak that has sickened hundreds and killed at least six.  In addition, the FDA is notifying 30 to 85 companies that bought peanut butter or peanut paste from a Georgia facility to test their products and asked to consider halting sales.  A list of companies that may be using the contaminated peanut butter has yet to appear on FDA website.

As of a few moments ago, 15 more cases of salmonella poisoning in the now nationwide outbreak have been reported, bringing the total to 425 in 43 state with 3 deaths. Nearly 18% of the victims have been hospitalized. Praise to Peanut Corporation Corporation for the Recall.

From a Press Release

Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), a peanut processing company and maker of peanut butter for bulk distribution to institutions, food service industries, and private label food companies, today announced a voluntary recall of peanut butter produced in its Blakely, Georgia processing facility because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. All product affected was produced on or after July 1, 2008, specific to the lot numbers and descriptions listed below.

The peanut butter being recalled is sold by PCA in bulk packaging to distributors for institutional and food service industry use. It is also sold under the brand name Parnell's Pride to those same industries. Additionally, it is sold by the King Nut Company under the label King Nut. PCA customers who received the recalled product are being notified by telephone and in writing.  None of the peanut butter being recalled is sold directly to consumers through retail stores.

"We deeply regret that this has happened," said Stewart Parnell, owner and president of PCA. "Out of an abundance of caution, we are voluntarily withdrawing this product and contacting our customers. We are taking these actions with the safety of our consumers as our first priority."

PCA initiated this recall after an open container of King Nut brand peanut butter in a long-term care facility in Minnesota was found to contain a strain of salmonella. King Nut brand peanut butter is produced by PCA. The voluntary recall of 21 lots of its peanut butter, in containers ranging from five to 50 pounds, is being taken immediately.

Lot Numbers Affected:

8193, 8194, 8197, 8233, 8234, 8235, 8241, 8255, 8256, 8275, 8276, 8282, 8283, 8284, 8296, 8316, 8330, 8331, 8336, 8345, 8354

Stock Numbers Descriptions and Pack Size Affected:

551000 Creamy Stabilized Peanut Butter 6 ct / 5 lb
551006 Crunchy Stabilized Peanut Butter 6 ct / 5 lb
551020 Creamy Stabilized Peanut Butter 35 lb
551022 Natural Course Peanut Paste 35 lb
551025 Old Fashioned Creamy Peanut Butter with 1% Salt 35 lb
551035 Crunchy Natural Peanut Butter 35 lb
551040 Creamy Natural Peanut Butter 35 lb
551050 Creamy Stabilized Peanut Butter 50 lb
551050-D Dark Creamy Stabilized Peanut Butter 50 lb
551051 Creamy Stabilized Peanut Butter with Monodiglyceride 50 lb
551053 Crunchy Stabilized Peanut Butter 50 lb
551072 Peanut Butter Variegate 45 lb

The CDC reports that 410 persons infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella Typhimurium have been reported from 43 states. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (1), Arizona (8), Arkansas (3), California (55), Colorado (9), Connecticut (6), Georgia (5), Hawaii (1), Idaho (10), Illinois (5), Indiana (4), Iowa (1), Kansas (2), Kentucky (3), Maine (4), Maryland (7), Massachusetts (40), Michigan (20), Minnesota (30), Missouri (8), Mississippi (1), Nebraska (1), New Hampshire (10), New Jersey (13), New York (12), Nevada (6), North Carolina (1), North Dakota (10), Ohio (53), Oklahoma (2), Oregon (5), Pennsylvania (12), Rhode Island (4), South Dakota (2), Tennessee (9), Texas (5), Utah (3), Vermont (4), Virginia (17), Washington (11), West Virginia (2), Wisconsin (3), and Wyoming (2). Among the 388 persons with dates available, illnesses began between September 3 and December 31, 2008, with most illnesses beginning after October 1, 2008. Patients range in age from <1 to 98 years; 48% are female. Among persons with available information, 18% were hospitalized and the infection may have contributed to three deaths.

 Our thanks go out to the Minnesota Department of Health for the contents of this 1,300th Salmonella blog entry:

The Minnesota Departments of Agriculture and Health today announced that laboratory analyses have confirmed a genetic match between the strains of Salmonella bacteria found in a container of King Nut brand creamy peanut butter and the strains of bacteria associated with 30 illnesses in Minnesota and nearly 400 illnesses around the country.

MDA lab tests conducted last week discovered Salmonella bacteria in a 5-pound package of King Nut peanut butter collected from a long-term care facility associated with one of the reported illnesses.  The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) issued a product advisory on Friday alerting institutions that may have received the product. MDA and MDH scientists performed additional testing this weekend to verify the connection between the contaminated product and the illnesses. 

State officials initially discovered the contaminated product through product testing conducted after MDH epidemiological evidence and an investigation by the Rapid Response Team implicated King Nut creamy peanut butter as a likely source of Salmonella infections in Minnesota residents. In the product advisory issued Friday, state officials urged establishments who may have the product on hand to avoid serving it, pending further instructions as the investigation progresses.

For more, go here.

MDA is holding a press conference at 3:30 p.m. Central Time.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer is the hometown newspaper for King Nut, the Solon, Ohio based snack and airline food company at the center of the nationwide Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak.

It has a good wrap-up today of the events that have transpired since late Friday after Minnesota health officials linked the outbreak King Nut brand creamy peanut butter.

The outbreak has made almost 400 people in 42 states sick and may be responsible for one death. Two brands of peanut butter have now been linked to the outbreak and recalled by their makers.

The Plain Dealer reports:

On Friday, the Minnesota Department of Health said preliminary laboratory testing found salmonella bacteria in a 5-pound container of King Nut brand creamy peanut butter. The tests have not linked it to the type of salmonella in the national outbreak, but additional results are expected early next week.

The container was found in the kitchen of a nursing facility, leaving it open to cross-contamination from another source, according to the peanut butter's manufacturer, Peanut Corp. of America in Lynchburg, Va.

The company did not say where the nursing facility was located or when the contaminated product was discovered.

King Nut Cos.  Saturday  asked customers to stop distributing all peanut butter under the King Nut and Parnell's Pride brands with a lot code that begins with the numeral "8." Both brands are made by PCA.

For more, go here.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a breakdown on Friday of the number of cases in each of 42 states involved in a nationwide outbreak of salmonella poisoning that has stricken at least 399 people:

California, 55, Ohio, 53, Massachusetts, 39, Minnesota, 30, Michigan 20, New Jersey 13, New York, 12, Pennsylvania 12, Virginia 12, Washington 11, Idaho, 10, North Dakota, 10, New Hampshire, 10, Colorado, 9, Tennessee, 9, Arizona, 8, Missouri, 8, Maryland, 7, Connecticut, 6, Nevada, 6, Georgia, 5, Oregon, 5, Texas, 5, Illinois, 4, Vermont, 4, Arkansas, 3, Indiana, 3, Kentucky, 3, Maine, 3, Rhode Island, 3, Utah, 3, Wisconsin, 3, Kansas, 2, Oklahoma, 2, South Dakota, 2, West Virginia, 2, Wyoming, 2, Alabama, 1, Hawaii, 1, Iowa, 1, Nebraska, 1, North Carolina, 1.

 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),  the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) all have tremendous public relations programs  to communicate with the public.

However, once or twice a year, the federal government's three top food safety agencies appear more as three blind mice.    The first official word from the mice on the ongoing multistate outbreak of human infections due to Salmonella Typhimurium has now appeared on CDC's website.  First public announcement about this outbreak came from the State of Ohio.

CDC did not add much  to what was already known.  Here's the money quote:

As of Wednesday, January 7, 2009, 388 persons infected with the outbreak strains of Salmonella Typhimurium have been reported from 42 states. Among the 372 persons with dates available, illnesses began between September 3 and December 29, 2008, with most illnesses beginning after October 1, 2008. Patients range in age from <1 to 103 years; 48 percent are female. Among persons with available information,18 percent were hospitalized.

CDC and the other mice say they are "vigorously working to identify the specific contaminated product."  CDC's next update on the outbreak that dates back to last October will be on January 15th.  (A list of the 42 states would be nice to see.)

There's not much else now on CDC's website, but go here for it.

 The CDC reports that an outbreak of Salmonella food poisoning has made 388 people sick across 42 states, sending 18 percent of them to the hospital, U.S. health officials said on Wednesday.  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is trying to trace the source of the outbreak, which began in September. The Department of Agriculture, state health officials and the Food and Drug Administration are also involved.  The CDC said poultry, cheese and eggs are the most common source of this particular strain, known as Salmonella Typhimurium.

The reported incidence of Salmonellaillnesses is about 14 cases per each 100,000 persons (MMWR Weekly, 2006), amounting to approximately 30,000 confirmed cases of salmonellosis yearly in the U.S. (CDC, 2005, October 13).  In 2005, just over 36,000 cases were reported from public health laboratories across the nation, representing a 12 percent decrease compared with the previous decade, but a 1.5 percent increase over 2004 (CDC, 2007).

As only about 3 percent of Salmonella cases are officially reported nationwide, and many milder cases are never diagnosed, the true incidence is undoubtedly much higher (Mead, 1999).  The CDC estimates that 1.4 million cases occur annually (CDC, 2005, October 13).  Approximately 600 deaths are caused by Salmonella infections in the U.S. every year, accounting for 31 percent of all food-related deaths (CDC, 2005, October 13; MMWR Weekly, 2001).

Wisconsin's Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection is not waiting for someone to get sick with salmonella after finding sprouts contaminated with the bacteria.

Instead, Wisconsin is recalling packaged sprouts from Sunrise Farms Inc. of Neenah. The grower was ordered to tell its customers to remove the alfalfa sprouts, Spicy Sprouts, Crunchy Sprouts and Onion Sprouts from store shelves. They are sold in 4-ounce packages throughout Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Sunrise has sanitized its facility and is working with the state to determine how the contamination happened. No illnesses have yet been associated with the recall.

Wisconsin's press release can be found here.