1,000 PRODUCTS RECALLED

Is Your Peanut Butter Safe?

by ALEX P. VIDAL

Eight died and more than 500 people in 43 states, including Illinois have been reportedly affected after taking salmonella-con-taminated peanut butter products traced to have come from a peanut corporation plant with sanitation lapses.

Chicago Tribune confirmed that the Peanut Corp. of America plant is now the target of a federal criminal investigation over the food catastrophe even as the federal government had announced more than 100 recalls covering more than 1,000 products, from ice cream and candy bars to frozen Thai dinners and dog snacks.

The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) said several companies such as Sara Lee, North American Foodservice of Downers Grove and Walgreens of Deerfield have recalled products. Sarah Lee recalled Chef Pierre Chocolate Peanut Butter Silk Pie while Walgreens recalled four kinds of Walgreen-brand candy and four types of Cafe W-brand trail mix.

It was reported that the peanut case "is emblematic of the FDA’s troubles in protecting the nation’s food supply."

"Understaffed and spread thin, the agency routinely has turned food inspections over to the states," reported the Chicago Tribune. "But watchdog groups said the states often are ill-equipped to monitor facilities where food products are stored, processed or manufactured.

The Associated Press reported last month that a second Peanut Corp. plant, in Texas, operated for years uninspected and unlicensed by government health officials until after the company fell under investigation by the FDA.

Meanwhile, it was reported that Missourians have not been given potentially contaminated peanut butter products as part of the disaster assistance being delivered by federal and state emergency management agencies following the January ice storm.

Commercial meal kits manufactured by Boca Grande Foods and assembled by Red Cloud Food Services with peanut butter packets were distributed as part of the recovery efforts in neighboring Arkansas and Kentucky.

Missouri officials said no food products have been requested of the federal government, and a thorough review of meal kits provided to ice storm victims by the State Emergency Agency were not manufactured by Red Cloud Food Services or subject to this recall.

Still, emergency management officials urge caution: "If there is any doubt about any food item, throw it out."

It is feared that the proximity of some Arkansas and Kentucky media markets to Missouri may lead to some confusion. Residents of bordering communities have been urged to be particularly cautious.

And as part of a major nationwide USDA-ordered recall of some peanut butter products suspected of being tainted, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management (ADEM) have taken precautionary and pro-active measures to reduce any risk to storm-affected Arkansans.

An inventory of meals received, distributed and staged revealed that storm victims did not receive products identified within the current USDA recall. Even so, federal govern-ment immediately began taking steps to inform the public of a potential health issue and are taking precautionary steps to ensure the health and safety of all Arkansans. /MP