WHAT DO TURTLES, PEANUT BUTTER AND MANGOES HAVE IN COMMON? (ANSWER - SALMONELLA)

Today's trivia question: what do small turles, mangoes, cantaloupes, peanut butter, tuna, ground beef, dry dog food, live chickens, hedgehogs and raw scraped ground tuna have in common?

The answer- they have all been linked to outbreaks caused by different Salmonella bacteria just in the last 3 months in the United States. No, we can't only blame our food supply. It can also be our pets. And in fact, touching your pet turtle or hedgehog or chicken may prove to be just as dangerous as eating that bad cantaloupe or ground beef!

In case you don't believe me, here are the facts, summarized from information provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - CDC. Remember that these are not the final figures for many of these outbreaks as they are still ongoing:

•Peanut Butter – 35 Salmonella-caused illnesses in 19 States, 8 hospitalizations, 0 deaths

•Hedgehogs – 14 Salmonella-caused illnesses in 6 states, 3 hospitalizations, 0 deaths.

•Mangoes – 121 Salmonella-caused illnesses in 15 states, 25 hospitalizations, 0 deaths.

•Cantaloupes – 261 Salmonella-caused illnesses in 24 states, 94 hospitalizations, 3 deaths

•Ground Beef - 46 Salmonella-caused illnesses in 9 states, 12 hospitalizations, 0 deaths

•Live Poultry - 3 outbreaks in the past 3 months, involving 5 different kinds of Salmonella – total of 276 illnesses in 11, 22 and 26 states, with a total of 58 hospitalizations and 3 deaths.

•Dry Dog Food - 49 Salmonella-caused illnesses in 20 states, with 10 hospitalizations, 0 deaths (caused by people touching the dog food - not eating it!).

•Raw Scraped Ground Tuna Product - 425 Salmonella-caused illnesses, in 28 states, 55 hospitalizations, 0 deaths.

•Small Turtles - 3 different Salmonella bacteria causing 196 illnesses in 31 states, 36 hospitalizations, 0 deaths.

To your good health,
TSF

SALMONELLA PEANUT BUTTER CAUSES CANDY AND MOONPIE RECALLS

Here we go again. Now the recalls of products made with Sunland peanut butter are starting. No surprise. It is amazing how many things we eat contain peanuts or peanut butter. Remember all those food items that were recalled when we had Salmonella-contaminated peanuts from PCA in Georgia in 2008-2009?

Here are a couple of early starters. More will come.

Falcon Trading Company, Inc./SunRidge Farms of Royal Oaks, California, is recalling some of its Sunridge Candies of various kinds - Energy Nuggets, Peanut Butter Power Chews, and Treasure Trove Snack Mix.

Chattanooga Bakery, Inc., maker of MoonPie® and LookOut!™ branded snacks, has also announced a limited recall of its Peanut Butter Crunch products with “Best By” dates of 02/26/13, 03/25/13, and 04/29/13.

By the way, Sunland Inc. has also expanded its own product recall for the second time. It now not only includes Almond Butter and Peanut Butter, but also its Cashew Butter, Tahini and Roasted Blanched Peanut Products. This is sounding more and more like a factory (equipment?) contamination. But what it will mean is still more spinoff recalls like the ones above.

Stay tuned.

Oh, and once again - avoid all foods containing peanut or almond butter for a while, especially for your children. (I purposely passed on Trader Joe's Crunchy Bars with peanut butter yesterday, and chose the honey ones instead...).

To your good health,

TSF

WILL THE TRADER JOE'S PEANUT BUTTER RECALL EXPAND?

At present there are several widely distributed food products in the U.S. that are being recalled because of contamination with Salmonella bacteria. But Trader Joe's peanut butter recall (contaminated with Salmonella Bredeney) is getting more publicity than most. Why?

Well, for one thing, just about every American household buys peanut butter. The average American child will eat about fifteen hundred peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before he or she graduates from high school. And some of us adults like peanut butter too (one of my personal favorite sandwiches is peanut butter and banana on whole wheat).

And another reason for the concern could be that we remember huge Salmonella-related peanut butter recalls in past years where hundreds have become ill, and some people have died. There was that Peter Pan peanut butter recall in 2007 and another even bigger one in 2008-2009 with at least 714 people - and many dogs - ill in 46 states. This second one involved other peanut products as well, and was traced to the unethical Georgia-based peanut plant with the pompous name - Peanut Corporation of America.

So what about the Trader Joe's recall of Creamy Salted Valencia Peanut Butter made with sea salt which was distributed to Trader Joe's stores nationwide? Well, the store downplayed any proven link to illnesses, but the Centers for Disease control have linked eating this product to 29 illnesses in 18 U.S. states, and 4 hospitalizations (no deaths as yet).

The real issue is what ingredient caused the contamination. If it was the peanuts - as is likely - other companies will be affected as well if they use the same peanuts for the processed foods. I guess we'll find out.

In the meantime - check your cupboard or refrigerator if you shop at Trader Joe's (that is where an opened jar should be kept). In the case of past outbreaks people were sometimes becoming ill as long as a year after the recall, because of the long shelf-life of the product - and not knowing about the recall.

To your good health,
TSF

AN UNUSUAL CASE OF LISTERIA IN BUTTER

I was surprised today to find a recall of butter because of Listeria monocytogenes being found in it. Anyone who reads this blog, or has read The Safe Food Handbook, knows that these bacteria are quite common in processed foods, including in dairy products, and especially in cheeses. But offhand, I could not recall any instances of it being found in butter in the U.S.

Out of curiosity, I checked back on some of the recall data bases. As I suspected, there have been very few cases of butter being contaminated with anything in the U.S. I located three butter recalls in the last fifteen years - one in Illinois, one in California and one in Nevada. In two out of three of these instances it was the very common Norovirus which was involved. In one, it was Staphylococcus aureus bacteria (which usually gives you a much worse case of food poisoning than does Norovirus).

And in at least two of these cases, the contamination occurred in banquet or restaurant food, which would make you suspect food handlers or poor storage. In other words, they were localized outbreaks, probably not originating at the point where the butter was produced. However, I do know of a sizeable outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes bacteria in butter in the UK in 2003.

So, back to the recent unusual instance in the U.S. Golden Glen Creamery of Bow, WA has had to recall butter produced on November 2, 2011 because it may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. And - here goes another recall for Whole Foods Market. It always seems to have at least one about this time of the year. But apparently, the 4 oz. packages of Herbes de Provence Butter were only sold at the Whole Foods Market in Redmond, WA. and 4 oz. packages of NW Mushroom Trio Butter were sold at Whole Foods Market in Redmond, WA, and at various Metropolitan Market locations in Washington. Products were distributed between 11/7/11 and 11/28/11.

So never say "never" in food safety. As soon as you do, it will happen. Beware pregnant women, and anyone else who has a poor immune system. This bacterium can be deadly.

To your good health,
TSF

NOW IT'S SALMONELLA IN PEANUT BUTTER

Remember those huge peanut product recalls in 2007 and 2008-2009 in the U.S.? The one in 2007 sickened at least 600 people in 47 states, with four deaths confirmed. The outbreak in 2008-9 made at least 714 people ill in 46 states with 9 deaths confirmed. Both were linked to different Salmonella bacteria.

After these very frightening and costly outbreaks the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued new guidance to the peanut industry on how to make sure there products were safe. But remember - nothing in food safety works 100%. Now we have another instance of Salmonella turning up in peanut butter, with Smucker's products involved this time. At present, the recall is quite limited, but as we have found out time and time again, these things tend to expand.

The product - Smucker’s® Natural Peanut Butter Chunky - was distributed in: Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia. It comes in 16 oz. jars. Here are more details:

o UPC: 5150001701 (located on the side of the jar's label below the bar code)
o Production Codes: 1307004 and 1308004
o Best-If-Used-By dates: August 3, 2012 and August 4, 2012
o Chunky product only (not creamy)
o Impacted product would have been purchased between November 8 - 17, 20

Americans are reported to consume about six pounds of peanuts and three and a half pounds of peanut butter per person per year. The average American child will eat more than 1500 peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches before he or she graduates from high school. So do check any Smucker's products you have in your home. And remember, don't even give them to your dog. Several illness have been recorded among pets who were given contaminated peanut butter during previous outbreaks.

To your good health,

TSF