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By
Julie Schmit and
Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY
The Food and Drug Administration said Monday that
salmonella was found in a package of peanut butter sandwich crackers made
by Kellogg (K).
Kellogg (K)
said Monday that a previously recalled peanut butter-sandwich cracker
tested positive for salmonella as a rapidly growing national recall widened
to include more companies' peanut snacks because of potential
contamination.
Kellogg's Austin
Quality Foods Toasty Crackers with Peanut Butter is the first product sold
to consumers that's known to have tested positive for the salmonella strain
initially linked only to peanut butter sold to institutions, such as
nursing homes.
The outbreak has led to
474 reported illnesses and may have caused six deaths, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention says. For every reported illness, dozens go
unreported.
The new recalls,
including one from General Mills (GIS)
for Lärabar and JamFrakas
snack bars, means that about a dozen companies have pulled products,
including cookies, crackers and ice cream. Products were sold in stores
such as Wal-Mart and Food Lion.
Wegmans also recalled some ice cream containing peanut
butter.
Kroger said Monday that
it is recalling Private Selection Peanut Butter Passion Ice Cream sold in
select stores because the peanut butter in the ice cream was supplied by
Peanut Corporation of America
and may be contaminated with Salmonella. Stores under the following names
are included in this recall: City Market, Fred Meyer, Fry's, King Soopers, QFC and Smith's.
More recalls are
likely, given that the Peanut Corporation of America, which earlier recalled
the suspect peanut butter and peanut paste, supplied 23 other companies
with product that's been recalled. PCA first recalled peanut butter last
Tuesday, then Sunday added its peanut paste, an
ingredient used by food manufacturers.
The pace of new recall
announcements has been slow, some food-safety experts say.
"It's taken a long
time for people to sort this out," says Craig Wilson, head of food
safety for Costco Wholesale. It pulled some Kellogg products off shelves
last week before Kellogg put a hold on them, Wilson says.
The recall has engulfed
snack foods popular with children. Salmonella is especially risky for the
young, old and those with weaker immune systems. The Food and Drug
Administration says peanut butter sold in stores is fine but advised
consumers not to eat other products containing peanut butter or paste until
they're cleared.
Many big names have
said they're not affected, including Mars, Hershey, the Girl Scouts and
ConAgra Foods, which recalled peanut butter in 2007.
Kellogg will deploy
several thousand sales representatives to help make sure product is removed
from stores, it says. "Consumers are confused," says William Marler, a food-safety attorney.
He says he bought
recalled product Sunday, indicating that retailers may be confused, too.
Kellogg last week
recalled 15 other products. They came up clean, as did the plant making
them, says Kris Charles, a spokeswoman.
PCA, based in Lynchburg, Va.,
says it conducts rigorous salmonella tests and that it's working with the
FDA on the contamination source.
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