The Cooper Firm

How did this happen?  Food regulators didn’t consider salmonella a threat to most peanut products before they traced an outbreak to a peanut butter plant two years ago.  Officials in the state promptly began checking for the bacteria during routine inspections.  For years, every thing seemed to be going fine.  Authorities reassessed peanut butter product’s risks again in 2007 when salmonella was found in Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butters.  Now, we are once again faced with salmonella tainted peanut butter products.  Inspections at Peanut Corp. revealed the firm’s internal testing programs identified salmonella, however, in some cases a subsequent lab test was used and a negative conclusion was released.  Unfortunately, Peanut Corp then shipped the product.

The products linked to this recent outbreak have been produced using peanut paste.  Peanut paste is used in manufacturing of cakes, candies, crackers, cookies, snack bars, energy bars, packaged peanut butter snacks, dog treats and ice cream.  This recent recall has exceeds over 400 products.  Major national brands of jarred peanut butter found in grocery stores are not affected by these recalls. It has been recommended to throw away these products in a manner that prevents others from eating them as well.

Even as the list of peanut products linked to this salmonella scare expands, the number of strains of bacteria associated to this outbreak has, at the time of this writing, expanded to four.  Although the salmonella typhimurium strain does not appear to be resistant to frontline antibiotic, worries arise that if the bacteria involved in the current crises were resistant as others have become, the outbreak could have resulted in illnesses that were more severe.  Especially so for those already vulnerable people such as babies, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems

For a list of recalled products, call 1.800.216.7331 or visit their website at www.fda.org