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Message: Health Officials Issue Recommendations Re Potentially Tainted Peanut Butter
NEWS FROM THE MONTANA DEPARTMENT
OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
For immediate release
February 15, 2007
Contact: Bonnie Barnard, Communicable Disease Surveillance, DPHHS,
406-444-0274
Gayle Shirley, Public Information Officer, DPHHS, 406-444-2596
State Health Officials Issue Recommendations
Regarding Potentially Tainted Peanut Butter
State health officials warned Montanans Thursday to check all jars or
cans of peanut butter in their possession to see whether it may be
implicated in a nationwide outbreak of salmonella that has affected at
least two state residents.
The advice comes in the wake of a Food and Drug Administration advisory
and a voluntary manufacturer recall of Peter Pan and Great Value brands
of peanut butter with product codes beginning with the numbers "2111"
imprinted on the lid. Great Value brand is sold through Wal-Mart stores
nationwide.
Both brands are manufactured in a single facility in Georgia by ConAgra
Foods, Inc. No other products are implicated in the disease outbreak at
this time.
"Anyone who has peanut butter fitting this description should play it
safe and not eat it," according to Bonnie Barnard, supervisor of the
Communicable Disease Surveillance Section of the Montana Department of
Public Health and Human Services.
Salmonella is a bacterial infection that causes diarrhea, fever, and
abdominal cramps. Most people with salmonella recover without treatment
unless they become severely dehydrated. In those cases, intravenous
fluids may be needed. The current outbreak involves a specific strain of
salmonella called Salmonella Tennessee.
Two cases of Salmonella Tennessee have been confirmed in Montana in the
past few months, Barnard said. A Yellowstone County woman in her 80s was
diagnosed with the disease in November. She did not require
hospitalization and has since recovered. Health officials are still
investigating a case involving a Silver Bow County man in his 60s.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have so far
identified 288 cases of Salmonella Tennessee in 39 states (including
Montana) that are associated with the two peanut butter brands.
Thirty-one patients have been hospitalized, and there have been no
reported deaths.
State health officials are asking anyone who has Peter Pan or Great
Value peanut butter with product codes beginning with 2111 to do the
following:
* If you are currently ill with diarrhea, visit your doctor or
other health-care provider for a diagnosis and treatment. Keep the
peanut butter at room temperature in a plastic bag, and make sure to
store it where no one will inadvertently eat it.
* If you are diagnosed with Salmonella Tennessee, continue to save
the peanut butter until a state or local health official contacts you to
arrange to have it tested by the state Public Health Laboratory.
* If you are not ill and have peanut butter that fits the recall
description, throw it away.
"This warning doesn't just apply to individual consumers but to
restaurants and other food-service establishments, too," Barnard said.
The health department is contacting food commodity and school
food-service programs to make sure they're aware of the outbreak and
manufacturer's recall.
ConAgra Foods is offering a full refund to consumers who must throw away
suspect peanut butter. To learn more, visit the company's website at
www.conagrafoods.com or call, toll-free, 866-344-6970.
Close to 40,000 cases of salmonella are reported in the United States
each year. Young children, the elderly, and those with chronic diseases
are most likely to have severe infections.
To learn more about salmonella, visit www.cdc.gov.
OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
For immediate release
February 15, 2007
Contact: Bonnie Barnard, Communicable Disease Surveillance, DPHHS,
406-444-0274
Gayle Shirley, Public Information Officer, DPHHS, 406-444-2596
State Health Officials Issue Recommendations
Regarding Potentially Tainted Peanut Butter
State health officials warned Montanans Thursday to check all jars or
cans of peanut butter in their possession to see whether it may be
implicated in a nationwide outbreak of salmonella that has affected at
least two state residents.
The advice comes in the wake of a Food and Drug Administration advisory
and a voluntary manufacturer recall of Peter Pan and Great Value brands
of peanut butter with product codes beginning with the numbers "2111"
imprinted on the lid. Great Value brand is sold through Wal-Mart stores
nationwide.
Both brands are manufactured in a single facility in Georgia by ConAgra
Foods, Inc. No other products are implicated in the disease outbreak at
this time.
"Anyone who has peanut butter fitting this description should play it
safe and not eat it," according to Bonnie Barnard, supervisor of the
Communicable Disease Surveillance Section of the Montana Department of
Public Health and Human Services.
Salmonella is a bacterial infection that causes diarrhea, fever, and
abdominal cramps. Most people with salmonella recover without treatment
unless they become severely dehydrated. In those cases, intravenous
fluids may be needed. The current outbreak involves a specific strain of
salmonella called Salmonella Tennessee.
Two cases of Salmonella Tennessee have been confirmed in Montana in the
past few months, Barnard said. A Yellowstone County woman in her 80s was
diagnosed with the disease in November. She did not require
hospitalization and has since recovered. Health officials are still
investigating a case involving a Silver Bow County man in his 60s.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have so far
identified 288 cases of Salmonella Tennessee in 39 states (including
Montana) that are associated with the two peanut butter brands.
Thirty-one patients have been hospitalized, and there have been no
reported deaths.
State health officials are asking anyone who has Peter Pan or Great
Value peanut butter with product codes beginning with 2111 to do the
following:
* If you are currently ill with diarrhea, visit your doctor or
other health-care provider for a diagnosis and treatment. Keep the
peanut butter at room temperature in a plastic bag, and make sure to
store it where no one will inadvertently eat it.
* If you are diagnosed with Salmonella Tennessee, continue to save
the peanut butter until a state or local health official contacts you to
arrange to have it tested by the state Public Health Laboratory.
* If you are not ill and have peanut butter that fits the recall
description, throw it away.
"This warning doesn't just apply to individual consumers but to
restaurants and other food-service establishments, too," Barnard said.
The health department is contacting food commodity and school
food-service programs to make sure they're aware of the outbreak and
manufacturer's recall.
ConAgra Foods is offering a full refund to consumers who must throw away
suspect peanut butter. To learn more, visit the company's website at
www.conagrafoods.com or call, toll-free, 866-344-6970.
Close to 40,000 cases of salmonella are reported in the United States
each year. Young children, the elderly, and those with chronic diseases
are most likely to have severe infections.
To learn more about salmonella, visit www.cdc.gov.
