American food giant Cargill, Inc. has expanded its initial recall for its Jif peanut butter to include other products. The company issued a voluntary recall for specific deliveries of its Dark Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Ritz Crackers, Peanut Butter Meltaways, and Peanut Butter Eggs and Fudge.
The products reportedly contained the same batch of Jif peanut butter that was found to be health risks due to potential salmonella poisoning. The company said the affected products were sold at the Wilbur Chocolate Retail Store in Lititz, Pennsylvania, and through their online outlet, Willburbuds.com, between February and March.
Cargill said it has not yet received reports directly linking salmonella poisoning to its products but stated that an ongoing outbreak had been associated with the consumption of its peanut butter products.
Last week, the J.M. Smucker Company voluntarily recalled some Jif peanut butter products distributed in the U.S. due to a salmonella outbreak. To date, 14 people have reportedly become sick after eating the product, with two more being hospitalized.
According to the CDC, the true number of those affected is likely "far greater" than the 14 people already reported. The FDA said it is currently investigating the incidents tied to specific Jif products made in the company's Lexington, Ky. factory. The agency said that around 1.3 million Americans get sick with salmonella each year, with 26,500 ending up in hospitals. It added that around 420 people die due to infections annually.
Smucker, which works with Cargill to produce some of its products, said it is confident that it has tracked down any possibly contaminated products which have been included in the recall. The company added that the incident was isolated only to products made at its Lexington manufacturing plant, and other peanut butter products produced at its other facilities are unaffected.
The Albertsons Companies announced the recall of 11 store-prepared items, including small peanut butter cream pies and sliced apples with peanut butter, offered at ACME, Albertsons, Eagle, Jewel-Osco, Safeway Tom Thumb, and Vons stores. At the same time, Giant Eagle recalled its GetGo branded apple slices with peanut butter sold at GetGo stations in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia between May 13 and May 20.
Some of the symptoms of salmonella infections include fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and stomach discomfort. While getting salmonella is largely not a death sentence, it can be dangerous and even fatal to children, those with compromised immune systems, and the elderly. Salmonella symptoms usually appear between six hours and six days after being exposed to contaminated products.
