Americans who like peanut butter cookies, crackers, candy and ice cream were told over the weekend to stop eating anything -- for now -- that they have in their cupboards containing that ingredient.
The Food and Drug Administration is asking consumers to avoid foods that may be contaminated until it has cleared them. FDA staff are working to track what products contain salmonella-tainted peanut butter and paste made in a Georgia manufacturing plant.
So far, 474 people have been sickened in a 43-state salmonella outbreak that may have contributed to six deaths, says Robert Tauxe of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those, 23% were hospitalized. The first illnesses were reported Sept. 8. The strain, salmonella typhimurium, is not considered virulent but is dangerous to the very young, the very old and people who have a compromised immune system.
The warning does not apply to jars of peanut butter sold in supermarkets and grocery stores. Bulk tubs of peanut butter made by the Peanut Corp. of America (PCA), the focus of the investigation, were sold to institutions such as nursing homes.
PCA's plant in Blakely, Ga., believed to be the source of the contamination, distributed a relatively small amount of the peanut butter and paste used to produce snacks and treats, says Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.
But PCA sold to at least 58 companies, some of which distributed to other food manufacturers.
A number of food companies have announced voluntary recalls of products that could contain PCA peanuts:
*Sixteen Kellogg products, including Keebler and Austin peanut butter cracker sandwiches and select snack-size packs of Famous Amos Peanut Butter Cookies and Keebler Soft Batch Homestyle Peanut Butter Cookies.
*Two Little Debbie sandwich crackers made by McKee Foods: Peanut Butter Toasty and Peanut Butter Cheese.
*Cold Stone Creamery ice cream with peanut ingredients sold in Arizona, Idaho and North Dakota.
*Peanut cookies and candy made by Hy-Vee, sold in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota.
*Perry's Ice Cream products containing peanut butter sauce distributed in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia.
No products from any of these companies have been directly linked to the salmonella outbreak, but "we're asking folks not to consume them at this time until we have additional information," Sundlof says.
The FDA will be updating daily a list of brands that either carried or definitely did not use PCA products at www.fda.gov.
To see more of USAToday.com, or to subscribe, go to http://www.usatoday.com
Copyright 2009 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.