Family, Consumer Sciences, Nutrition

Salmonella Strain in King Nut Peanut Butter Found in Connecticut

Genetically Matches the Strain Implicated in the Nationwide Illness Outbreak

PRESS RELEASE FROM COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY

HARTFORD, January 20 -- Commissioner Jerry Farrell, Jr. today announced that genetic testing on the 5-lb unopened tub of King Nut peanut butter found by food inspectors last week at a West Haven distributor has produced the first independently confirmed genetic match for the salmonella strain responsible for the nationwide outbreak. This finding definitively links the peanut butter sample implicated in the recent outbreak back to the manufacturer, Peanut Corporation of America.

“Our work has been instrumental in helping the U.S. Food and Drug Administration track and isolate the source of this tainted product, which has been linked to the death of several people and illness in hundreds,” Farrell said. “Thanks to the fine collaborative efforts between our Food Safety program and the Department of Public Health, this lethal outbreak may soon be contained.”

“Thus far, Connecticut's King Nut peanut butter sample is the only intact sample that has been found with a PFGE that matches the outbreak strain as determined by clinical sample analysis,” Roberta F. Wagner, Compliance Director with the FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition wrote in a communication today to Commissioner Farrell. “It is therefore very important to get this message out,” she concluded.

PFGE refers to Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis, an electrophoresis technique for separation of large DNA for analysis.

Salmonella was found previously in an open five-pound tub of King Nut peanut butter in Minnesota. Connecticut's finding, in an unopened tub of peanut butter, is the first sample linking the contamination directly back to the manufacturer.

The genetic results were reported out by the Department of Public Health Laboratory on Sunday. Department of Consumer Protection inspectors continue to work with the Public Health laboratory and epidemiologists to prevent the further ingestion of this product by Connecticut consumers.

Peanut Corporation of America sells King Nut peanut butter -- through various distributors -- only to food service and food processor accounts. It is not sold directly to consumers. King Nut does not supply any of the ingredients for the peanut butter distributed under its label.

“We have obtained distribution information and are conducting recall effectiveness checks,” Farrell said. “While the recalled peanut butter itself is not sold at retail, I strongly reiterate the FDA's advice that consumers avoid eating cookies, cakes, crackers, ice cream and other products made with peanut butter until the full scope of this outbreak can be determined.”

FDA has posted on its website a searchable list of products and brands associated with the expanded PCA recall at: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/index.cfm . The list is updated as additional sub-recalls occur and as more information is received from the industry. Consumers are encouraged to first visit FDA's website to learn which commercially-prepared or manufactured peanut butter/peanut paste-containing products are subject to recall. If consumers cannot determine if a certain prepared product contains peanut butter or peanut paste produced by the Peanut Corporation of America, the FDA urges that they not consume those products.

Salmonellosis is an infection with bacteria called Salmonella. Most persons infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days, and most persons recover without treatment. However, in some persons, the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. In these patients, the Salmonella infection may spread from the intestines to the blood stream, and then to other body sites and can cause death unless the person is treated promptly with antibiotics. Older adults, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to experience severe illness, and should be seen by a physician if they experience these symptoms.

The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection continues to work with United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to assist in the evaluation of recalls of food and other products.

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