Federal officials are waiting to see if tests on a 5-pound tub of peanut butter in Minnesota will link it to a nationwide outbreak of salmonella typhimurium that has sickened at least 400 in 42 states.
The distributor, King Nut Companies of Solon, Ohio, sells only to institutional accounts such as nursing homes, hospitals, schools and restaurants. The company issued a voluntary recall Saturday.
Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman Stephanie Kwisnek cautioned that the tests that could link peanut butter and the three-month-long outbreak have not yet been completed. Officials expect results early this week. "There is insufficient information at this time to conclusively link this product to the national outbreak," she says.
The Minnesota Department of Health said Friday that a tub of the peanut butter from a nursing home that had patients ill with the national outbreak strain had tested positive for generic salmonella, says the health department's Doug Schultz.
"We've have 30 illnesses in Minnesota that are connected to the outbreak strain, and all of those 30 report eating some type of peanut butter, and many if not most of them have been connected to this King Nut brand," Schultz says.
The King Nut spread was manufactured by the Peanut Corp. of America in Lynchburg, Va. FDA agents began testing in the plant on Friday, PCA president Stewart Parnell says. The company does not sell retail-size peanut butter.
In a release Sunday, the company stated: "To date, the only conclusive testing linking salmonella to PCA's product was done on an open container of the peanut butter in a large, institutional kitchen. The history of the handling of that open container is unknown at this time."
King Nut is asking customers to stop distributing all peanut butter with lot codes beginning with "8," sold as King Nut peanut butter and Parnell's Pride peanut butter, says president Martin Kanan.
"We are very sorry this happened," Kanan says. "We are taking immediate and voluntary action because the health and safety of those who use our products is always our highest priority."
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