FDA advises consumers on peanut butter

The FDA has made an announcement for consumers to avoid eating products that contain peanut butter until they have completed their investigation.

Nearly 500 illnesses, 90 hospitalizations and 6 deaths have been linked to this Salmonella outbreak.

The Peanut Corporation of America has issued recall of its pastes and products manufactured since August of 2008. The products went across the United States and into Canada, Korea and Haiti.

The CDC has urged companies that use peanut butter in manufacture of products to release information on the source of their ingredients.

Peanut butter and ingredient peanut products account for nearly 130 million pounds used per month. Most of this use is in the manufacture of peanut butter.

Being requested not to consume peanut butter crackers, cookies, peanut butter chunks and flavors in your ice cream is now tremendously impacting this industry and the related users.

As consumers, our challenge is to better understand where ingredients are sourced. As manufacturers, it is essential to better understand sanitary practices of the companies supplying our ingredients and the tests essential to protect the public and as regulators, we must use each food contamination investigation as a learning experience to improve the speed of arriving at the source of contamination and getting contaminated product removed from the market.

Ask questions, expect answers.

Rudy