Recall on Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter across the country

By Victoria Gomez, News Editor

Salmonella was found in some peanut butter manufactured by ConAgra Foods, Inc. processing plant in Sylvester, Georgia, on Feb. 14.

A recall was issued by ConAgra that day. The peanut butter left more than 300 Americans ill from salmonella by Feb. 27.

Hank Strashnick, general manager of Sodexho at St. Michael’s, said he heard the news the morning of the recall and ordered all the peanut butter be removed and locked up.

Sodexho had only received one case of the affected lot, Strashnick said.

Salmonella is usually a food-borne illness that usually comes from chicken or eggs. Not a product like peanut butter, Strashnick said.

It is uncertain how something like peanut butter could have gotten contaminated, he said, and he has never heard of peanut butter containing salmonella.

“In a controlled manufacturing environment, the risk does not exist for peanut butter. So how did it get there?” Strashnick said.

On Feb. 27, 42 states in the U.S. reported confirmed cases of salmonella poisoning, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of these 42 states, 370 people were said to be suffering from salmonella poisoning and 60 were reported hospitalized. There have been no reported deaths, CDC officials said in an on-line article posted in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

The contamination could have come from anywhere, Strashnick said. It could have been peanuts from a particular grower, or a sick person who handled the jars of peanut butter, he said.

“In over 30 years I have never seen that, especially when the product isn’t egg or poultry,” Strashnick said.

Contact Victoria Gomez at vgomez@smcvt.edu