Jenn Holtaway removes 60 jars of Peter Pan peanut butter from the pantry at The Pelathe Center. The peanut butter has been linked to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened almost 300 people across the country. Holtaway, an intern at the center, separated the bad peanut butter from the good Thursday at the food pantry, 1423 Haskell Ave.
Peanut butter causing illness across the nation
If you have a jar of peanut butter in your cabinet, take it out. Chances are it's part of a nationwide recall linked to a large outbreak of Salmonella infections. There have been six confirmed cases in Kansas. Enlarge video
Clarence Seaver thought his Great Value peanut butter tasted funny.
"He said he didn't think it tasted right," Lucy Seaver said of her husband. "I tasted it and thought it tasted all right."
After eating about a quarter of the jar, the McLouth couple fed it to their dog.
Then, Thursday morning they learned that ConAgra Foods Inc. had issued a warning that people should throw out jars of Great Value and Peter Pan peanut butter that have a product code on the lid beginning with 2111, which denotes the plant where it was made.
The Seavers' jar lid contained the code.
According to federal investigators, the suspect peanut butter was produced by ConAgra at its only peanut butter plant in Sylvester, Ga.
Neither Clarence Seaver nor his dog became sick, but the first U.S. salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter has sickened nearly 300 people in 39 states, including Kansas.
Salmonella symptoms include diarrhea, fever, dehydration, abdominal pain and vomiting.
Six cases reported in Kansas since October have been linked to the peanut butter, said Mike Heideman, spokesman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Although he didn't know specific locations, Heideman said they had been reported in scattered areas.
No salmonella cases have been reported to the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, a spokesman said.
Lawrence food pantry operators were scrambling Thursday to check codes on their peanut butter jars.
The Salvation Army pantry, 946 N.H., pulled 111 jars, said Donnie Hornberger, community relations director.
"Most of what we had was Peter Pan," Hornberger said.
At the Pelathe Community Resource Center, 1423 Haskell Ave., 60 jars had to be thrown out, said Jenn Holtaway, a social work intern. She said the pantry had been closed for a month for renovation and just reopened last week.
"Peanut butter is hard to come by in a pantry on a normal day," Holtaway said. "We get so many canned vegetables and macaroni, but we usually don't get peanut butter unless we ask."
Lawrence grocery stores also were checking their stocks.
Managers at Checkers Foods and Hy-Vee Food Stores said they removed jars of peanut butter with the 2111 code.
Stan Thompson, manager of store operations at the Hy-Vee on Clinton Parkway, said he was waiting to hear from ConAgra about what to do with the peanut butter.
"Once they figure it out, they'll either tell us to destroy it or they'll pick it up or we'll put it back on the shelf," he said.
FDA inspectors visited the now shut-down plant Wednesday and Thursday to try to pinpoint where the contamination could have happened. The FDA last inspected the plant in 2005.
ConAgra spokesman Chris Kircher said the company randomly tests 60 to 80 jars of peanut butter that come off its Sylvester plant's line each day for salmonella and other germs, and "we've had no positive hits on that going back for years."
Most cases were reported in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee and Missouri. About 20 percent of people who became sick were hospitalized, and there were no deaths, the CDC said.
-The Associated Press contributed information to this story.
Comments
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bd (anonymous) says…
OK ,who pee'd in the peanut butter vat?
altheasus (Althea Schnacke) says…
The better question: Who's chicken peed in the peanut butter?
jonas (anonymous) says…
Suspect peanut butter?
Was it seen fleeing the scene, or what?
warthog (anonymous) says…
I just find it interesting that Peter Pan and the walmart brand, Great Value, are the same thing.
Choosy mothers choose Jiff.
Agnostick (anonymous) says…
Uuuhhhmmmmm... eww.
Just checked our small jar of "Great Value" creamy. Itg has the telltale colde on the lid! The jar is @ 85-90% empty. I ate some just yesterday, in fact. We've not really had any sickness directly linked to this, though.
I think I'll go back to the "natural" peanut butter, that you grind yourself while standing in the health food store.
Very true, Marion... very true... although I think it can be reliably said that these little incidents are fewer and far between here in America.
Agnostick
agnostick@excite.com
Alfred_W (anonymous) says…
Well, I took some peanut butter back to HyVee and they swapped it straight up for some skippy. They didn't even charge me the difference even though I admitted that I'd bought it during the recent 99¢ sale.
Dillons, on the other hand, will do no more than write down ConAgra's phone number for you. Guess where I'll be buying groceries?
Azure_Attitude (anonymous) says…
I, too, have the dreaded 2111 on my 85% empty jar of Peter Pan. I am thankful that my son hasn't been sick.
emilyhadley (Emily Hadley) says…
It's hard to believe that Peter Pan and Great Value are the only two brands made in a ConAgra plant that large.
I heartily recommend Maranatha peanut butter. It doesn't have those weird oils and other junk added to it and it tastes unbelievably better than ConAgra stuff.
I knew there was something seriously wrong with this common type of peanut butter when I realized that I couldn't get the containers to rinse clean before putting them in the recycling.
Real peanut butter rinses clean out of the jar--think what this stuff is doing in your intestines, even when it is clear of salmonella!
institches (anonymous) says…
I had two jars. But as overly cautious as the food industry must be, the greater percentage probably is not tainted. I am still tossing my jars. I won't even attempt to return the jars to the store.
Warthog... really good retort!! I guess I better be a better choosy mother!!
tweetybird2 (anonymous) says…
I had two jars I bought in Perry.
acg (anonymous) says…
We also had a jar of Peter Pan with the code on top. My kids had some as a snack with celery on Wed. night. When I saw this on the news last night I kind of freaked out. Now I'm watching them like a hawk. Anyone know how long it'll before I can relax?
Mari (Mari Windermere) says…
acg:
Symptoms develop one to six hours after eating, so your kids are in the clear.
guesswho (anonymous) says…
I saw Wayne Simien was missing NBA games because of salmonella poisoning - did he eat Peter Pan peanut butter? Or, maybe it was a recurrence of previous salmonella problems he has had.
riverat (Joe Hyde) says…
I bought a jar of "2111-code" Peter Pan Creamy at Checkers last week and had already eaten about half the jar when the news came out. No illness symptoms here; I'm fine. Very tasty stuff so I'll be buying more once they get this problem sorted out.
crazyks (anonymous) says…
Salmonella is usually not that serious. You may have had it several times and never even realized it. It may only make you a little achey, a little upset tummy. Or it can make you spend a couple of days in the bathroom. Hard to tell with food poisoning.
I had a bout of food poisoning last year, from improperly stored food. Doctor told me that most times, without tests, it's impossible to know if your symptoms are from food poisoning or a virus. By the time most people realize they have a problem, the food poisoning is about over anyway. Most food poisoning is probably from salmonella than anything else.
Salmonells just basically feels like a short case of the flu. Usually doesn't last very long. No long term effects, as far as I know.
E coli is a different matter. Thank heavens it wasn't that in the peanut butter.
redneckwoman (anonymous) says…
Hubby eats a PB @ work everyday. Usually I buy Jiff, but I sent him to buy the last jar & of course he got Peter Pan with 2111 on it. Between my 3 kids & hubby it's about 95% gone before I saw the news yesterday. So I too am watch them like a hawk.
KansasKel (anonymous) says…
QOUTE: "or we'll put it back on the shelf," he said.
Um, seriously...do you think that a) ConAgra is really going to recommend that? and b) the FDA will allow that? and c) that people will actually BUY it????
I've heard there's an address to send your lids to for reimbursement, but don't have a link...you might want to google it if you want some $$ back.
blessed3x (anonymous) says…
For those wanting to switch to organic peanut butter, wasn't it organic spinach that was contaminated with e. coli? Organic does not automatically equal safer.
Kam_Fong_as_Chin_Ho (anonymous) says…
I shop at Dirty Dillon's on Massachusetts. No fear of getting any peanut butter with the suspect product code there because half the food on their shelves is expired and manufactured long before the current bad lot of Peter Pan. Seriously, double check expiration dates at that store...it's alarming how many items are expired.
lily (anonymous) says…
I too shop at Dirty Dillon's. I have found expired items etc as well. It's too convenient between work and home though and I hate to spend any more time than I have to shopping. I had the dreaded 2111 that I bought at Dillon's. It's not worth hassling with them over the 1.97 I paid. Their parking lot sucks in this weather too.
willie_wildcat (anonymous) says…
Found it in mine too....I had eaten off it which made it worse :( I bought mine a while back and had not eaten off it for a while. I thought that it had a bit of a funky taste to it.
I used to work for one of the big processing companies and lemme tell you how many times we had product come up suspect for Listeria monocytogenes. Talk about ridiculous! It is all about the way things are made and how they are handled. It goes all the way from the line workers to the conditions of the plant and its sanitation.
bearded_gnome (anonymous) says…
the one important thing to add to what Crazyks said is that though salmonella can just pass [please forgive the pun] with little notice or some minor discomfort, if some one with a comprimised immune system, or otherwise weakened body, eats that contaminated PB they can in fact die. yes, lethal peanutbutter. so, you could save some of that 2111 PB and treat it as a food poison...say to speed up your inheritance?
[please note, the above ended with sarcasm, and should not be taken as an endorsement of such behavior. if you are even tempted to do that, just go up to the police station knock on their door and ask them for a room!]
budwhysir (anonymous) says…
Yes the suspect peanutbutter seems to be a on the loose
kg52 (anonymous) says…
More so than the peanut butter I am concerned about the "dirty Dillons". Way back when that used to be a great store on Mass. Our Dillons' store in North Topeka is superb in every aspect (it is quite a lot newer than the previous one referred to) and I am going to stick with them even with the New Wallyworld right across the street. I will have to frequent the dreaded W store though once in a while as they are the only ones who carry my cat and dog's favorite treats. Otherwise I am sticking with Dillons - and they have had 20 cent off gas for two months now (just this store I guess to help compete with the new Big W.) Anyway it is worth it as for every $100.00 of groceries I get a fill up for 20 cents off per gallon - I actually paid $1.68 a gallon not too long ago. Also with Price Chopper on the opposite corner for their fantastic sales (this week boneless pork chops for less than @2.00 a lb. and sometimes they have 93% lean hamburger for $1.79. I am also enjoying the less crowded store while I can as I know this soon will pass when the newness of Big W wears off and they come flocking back to my favorite Big D.