Finger Licking Good: Peanut Butter You Can Count On

Over the last week, many have despaired over the loss of safe and secure peanut butter. Peanut butter is the glue that holds together, for some of us, our dietary healthy fat requirements. It flavors our health drinks, our smoothies, our dogs eat it to take their Fish Oil capules hidden in the middle.

There is a long list of dangerous products put up by the FDA “Searchable Database of Recalled Peanut Products“. Items at risk include Icecream, gels, cookies, dog food, and many other items. Don’t give your dog those Peanut Flavored Rawhides right now. They are on the recall list. For specific details check out the FDA widget below and the link above.

In previous years peanut butter in jars, specifically Peter Pan Peanut butter was subject to a recall for Salmonella contamination. This year, the FDA stated that national brand peanut butter is considered safe. Somehow the news media didn’t think it would make a dramatic story to let you know that your Skippy or Peter Pan Chunky Peanut Butter in a jar is actually safe. Only the small print at the FDA site will let you know that. A few jars of Peanut Butter, however, are on the warning, bad bugs within list.

Direct from the main FDA page on Salmonella in Peanut Butter:

Major national brands of jarred peanut butter found in grocery stores are not affected by the PCA recall.

The infecting bacteria is Salmonella Typhimurium. This was found in peanut butter and peanut paste produced by the Peanut Corporation of America at its Blakely, Georgia plant. Reportedly some infected raw peanuts were found in close proximity to processed products.

Peanut butter sold by PCA comes in large bulk containers which weigh from 5 to 1,700 pounds.  The peanut paste is comes in a minimum size of 35 pound containers. These products are not sold to individual consumers. The FDA found that PCA  sold and distributed likely contaminated products to more than 100 different firms. These products were used as an ingredient in literally  hundreds of different consumer oriented products including cookies, crackers, cereal, candy and ice cream. Peanut flavored dog food and treats are also at risk. Other bars, cookies, etc. are on the “do not eat list”.

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