E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSFederal health officials have detected salmonella in bulk raw and roasted peanuts produced by a New Mexico supplier and in an associated nut butter facility, all tied to an outbreak of food poisoning that has sickened nearly three dozen people and sent potentially contaminated products to major retailers across the nation.
Sunland Inc. of Portales, N.M., expanded its ongoing recall to include raw and roasted shelled and in-shell peanuts sold in quantities ranging from 2 ounces to 50 pounds, including products within current shelf life and those with no expiration date, Food and Drug Administration officials announced Saturday.
As of Oct. 5, the outbreak of salmonella Bredeney linked to the company's peanut products had sickened 35 people in 19 states and sent eight to the hospital. Nearly two thirds of those affected were children younger than 10, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The illnesses have been tied to those who ate Trader Joe's Valencia Creamy Salted Peanut Butter made with Sea Salt.
FDA officials previously had detected salmonella in the environment of the plants that make products sold to Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Harry & David and a slew of other processors and retailers across the country. But officials now have found salmonella in the main plant's raw and roasted bulk peanuts and they've also detected the outbreak strain of salmonella Bredeney in the nut butter plant.
Sunland has ceased production and distribution from both its nut butter and peanut processing plants, FDA officials reported.
The raw and roasted peanuts available to retail customers were distributed under the company's own name and sent to numerous large grocery and retail chains.
The number of products associated with the company’s recall has continued to expand over recent weeks, climbing to more than 240. On Monday, Think Thin bars issued a recall of bars link to the peanut recall, according to supermarket chains Giant Food and Stop & Shop. A full list of recalled products can be found here.
Consumers should not eat any products associated with Sunland and should discard them immediately, FDA officials warned. That is especially important for children, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems, who are most vulnerable to dangerous salmonella infections.
Related stories:
- Trader Joe's peanut butter recalled for salmonella risk
- Peanut butter tests positive for salmonella; recall widens
Leave a Comment:
Guess where Romney and Ryan will want to budget cut? Regulatory Agencies, for a start. Anything that impedes a "job creator" from making a buck!
It should be obvious that the regulatory agencies are falling down on the job under the free spending Obama regime. Perhaps it isn't so much money as it is poor management of these agencies, filled as they are with affirmative action employees, and headed by political hacks, that's allowing our food supply to be contaminated.
A fish rots from the head, and the head of our government is certainly rotten. It is time for a regime change in Washington. A new broom sweeps clean.
This proves that the Republican statement that industry can do the job better is an absolute falsehood. Federal inspectors found the new outbreak and stopped it before it made it to the public. DEREGULATION does not work in the food industry. The result of deregulation in this area alone can mean people have died for the sake of more profits.
Recently, the federal government has been responsible for figuring out the peanut butter salmonella outbreak and where it originated as well as the fungal tainted medicines that have killed tens of people. Sure you want to vote Republican and have less governmental regulation?
I wonder if Texas Roadhouse gets peanuts from Sunland. We ate there Saturday night. My wife was the only one who ate any peanuts and she was the only one to get sick later that night. At first I was ready to blame either the Thousand Island dressing or the eggs on her salad but perhaps it was the peanuts?
The incubation period for salmonella is usually 12 - 72 hours. I would look someplace else for the cause .
Doesn't everybody know that you need to wash your peanuts in hot soapy water, or cook them until 165 degrees?? Duh
This is an unfortunate incident. I myself was born and raised in Portales, NM. I graduated from a rural school nearby. My entire youth was spent in Portales, NM. My own mother worked for the Department of Agriculture for years grading peanuts. I know many many farmers in that area that grow peanuts - they are not bad people. I have a few things I'd like to say; 1 - New Mexico is a state (in fact it just celebrated its 100th year) 2 - Peanuts are completely 100% planted and harvested by machinery. 3 - The farmers that grow these peanuts are hard working legal Americans; therefore no field labor is involved! 4 - Products are recalled from all parts of the nation and world on a daily basis. This particular plant (which I am quite familiar with) has been in business for decades and has always shown its commitment to its customers and its community. One incident does not make this company a corporate monster. 5 - Lastly, its so very sad to read what others have posted about the Legal Hispanic's that may or may not work at this plant. Portales is in New Mexico - not Mexico. There are plenty of other races in my hometown that work in agriculture facilities. I am not hispanic myself, but my friends and family are. You are talking about human beings here; not animals - doing jobs that nobody else wants to do. I am so saddened for my hometown of Portales, NM. With a population of 15,000 and a drought that crippled most farmers - they could use a little understanding in this isolated incident.