The Peanut Butter Outbreak

Myth or Fact? All peanut butter products are contaminated by Salmonella

MYTH. If the recent Salmonella scare has made you think twice about eating anything containing peanuts, you're not alone. Over 500 Americans have been affected in over 43 states by various peanut butter and peanut paste-containing products (including 9 deaths). Officials have isolated the source of the outbreak to contaminated peanut butter and peanut paste produced by The Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) at its Blakely, Georgia processing plant. PCA’s products are used in hundreds of different food items including cookies, crackers, cereal, candy and ice cream.

As unfortunate as this situation is, not all peanut products are affected. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “major national brands of jarred peanut butter found in grocery stores are not affected by the PCA recall” and the makers of my favorite peanut butter product, Justin’s 100 Calorie Nut Butter Pack (available at Whole Foods) claim that their products are still safe to eat as well.

For information about the Salmonella outbreak, including a searchable list of products recalled by the FDA, visit www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall