Beware of imported peanut butter products!

[Zeus]

DOH on alert for possibly tainted Kellogg products

01/17/2009 | 11:09 PM

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) is now on the lookout for Kellog Company products that may be tainted with Salmonella, bacteria that cause typhoid fever and food poisoning, according to Dr. Eric Tayag of the National Epidemiology Center.

[For more information on Salmonella, visit the Web site of the US Centers for Disease Control: www.cdc.gov.]

This is the department's reaction to an advisory posted by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on its Web site that the US-based food firm has voluntary recalled some of its products as a precaution against possible Salmonella contamination (Kellogg Company announces voluntary nationwide recall...).

The Philippines' own Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) is aware of the advisory, but its officials are still discussing what to do about it.

According to a DOH statement, BFAD will follow standard procedure by checking if the products in question are registered with its data base. If they are not registered, they would send out field investigators to check if stores are carrying the products.

The products recalled by Kellogg, "because of possible health risk," were produced on or after July 1, 2008. They are:

• Austin Quality Foods Cheese Crackers with Peanut Butter - all sizes

• Austin Quality Foods Cheese & Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers – all sizes

• Austin Quality Foods Mega Stuffed Cheese Crackers with Peanut Butter – all sizes

• Austin Quality Foods PB & J Cracker Sandwiches – all sizes

• Austin Quality Foods Super Snack Pack Sandwich Crackers

• Austin Quality Foods Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers – all sizes

• Austin Quality Foods Toasty Crackers with Peanut Butter – all sizes

• Austin Quality Foods Reduced Fat Cheese & Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers

• Austin Quality Foods Reduced Fat Toasty Crackers with Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers

• Austin Quality Foods Cookie/Cracker Pack

• Austin Quality Foods Variety Pack

• Keebler Cheese & Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers – all sizes

• Keebler Toast & PB'n J Flavored Sandwich Crackers – all sizes

• Keebler Toast & Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers – all sizes

• Famous Amos Peanut Butter Cookies (2- and 3-ounce)

• Keebler Soft Batch Homestyle Peanut Butter Cookies (2.5-ounce)

Earlier on Saturday GMANews.TV posted an Associated Press story about the outbreak, which says that it "has sickened hundreds of people in 43 US states and killed at least six."

[For the entire AP story, click here: "Kellogg recalls 16 items in US salmonella spread"].

According to the US advisory, the FDA and other regulatory agencies are focusing their probe on the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), one of the peanut paste suppliers that Kellogg uses in its Austin and Keebler products.

"Consumer health and safety is our top priority," said David Mackay, president and CEO, Kellogg Company, as quoted in the FDA advisory. "We are taking these voluntary actions out of an abundance of caution." - GMANews.TV

Kaya ingat sa pagbili at kain!

[Zeus]

People urged to avoid peanut butter products

01/18/2009 | 09:37 AM

WASHINGTON – Federal health authorities on Saturday urged consumers to avoid eating cookies, cakes, ice cream and other foods that contain peanut butter until authorities can learn more about a deadly outbreak of salmonella contamination.

Most peanut butter sold in jars at supermarkets appears to be safe, said Stephen Sundlof, head of the Food and Drug Administration's food safety center.

"As of now, there is no indication that the major national name-brand jars of peanut butter sold in retails stores are linked to the recall," Sundlof told reporters in a conference call.

Officials are focusing on peanut paste, as well as peanut butter, produced at a Blakely, Ga., facility owned by Peanut Corp. of America. Its peanut butter is not sold directly to consumers but distributed to institutions and food companies. But the peanut paste, made from roasted peanuts, is an ingredient in cookies, cakes and other products that people buy in the supermarket.

"This is an excellent illustration of an ingredient-driven outbreak," said Dr. Robert Tauxe, who oversees foodborne illness investigations for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

So far, more than 470 people have gotten sick in 43 states, and at least 90 had to be hospitalized. At least six deaths are being blamed on the outbreak. Salmonella is a bacteria and the most common source of food poisoning in the U.S., causing diarrhea, cramping and fever.

Officials said new illnesses are still being reported in the outbreak investigation.

The Kellogg Co., which listed Peanut Corp. as one of its suppliers, has recalled 16 products. They include Austin and Keebler branded Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers, and some snack-size packs of Famous Amos Peanut Butter Cookies and Keebler Soft Batch Homestyle Peanut Butter Cookies. Health officials said consumers who have bought any of those products should throw them away.

Peanut Corp. has recalled all peanut butter produced at the Georgia plant since Aug. 8 and all peanut paste produced since Sept. 26. The plant passed its last state inspection this summer, but recent tests have found salmonella.

Health officials are focusing on 30 companies out of a total of 85 that received peanut products from the Georgia plant. Sundlof said Peanut Corp. is a relatively small supplier on the national scene.

The Midwest supermaket chain Hy-Vee Inc. of West Des Moines, Iowa, said Saturday it was voluntarily recalling products made in its bakery departments with peanut butter because they had the potential to be contaminated with salmonella. The recall covered seven states: Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota.

The outbreak has triggered a congressional inquiry and renewed calls for reform of food safety laws. For example, the FDA lacks authority to order a recall, and instead must ask companies to voluntarily withdraw products.

"Given the numerous food-borne illness outbreaks over the past several years, it is becoming painfully clear that the current regulatory structure is antiquated and ill-equipped to handle these extensive investigations," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who chairs a panel that oversees the FDA budget.

Seattle-area lawyer William Marler, who specializes in food safety cases, said the government shouldn't wait for the results of more tests to request recalls.

"At least 30 companies purchased peanut butter or paste from a facility with a documented link to a nationwide salmonella outbreak," said Marler. "The FDA has the authority actually, the mandate to request recalls if the public health is threatened. Instead, the FDA has asked the companies to test their products and consider voluntary recalls. It is just not enough."

Health officials in Minnesota and Virginia have linked two deaths each to the outbreak and Idaho has reported one. Four of those five were elderly people, and all had salmonella when they died, although their exact causes of death have not been determined. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the salmonella may have contributed.

An elderly North Carolina man died in November from the same strain of salmonella that's causing the outbreak, officials in that state said Friday.

The CDC said the bacteria behind the outbreak — typhimurium — is common and not an unusually dangerous strain but that the elderly or those with weakened immune systems are more at risk. - AP

Source:gmanews.tv

[Burai]

kellog? may naaalala akong kellogs pero kellog wala. and sa tingin ko yung kellogs na yun is chocolate yata na hmm.. cereal???? frostee??? di ko na maalala..

anyway, yeah, nabasa ko rin to sa yahoo. nagulat ako bakit peanut butter naman? akala ko may melamine din

[CVT]

Yup, iyong anak ng isa naming kasama sa trabaho sa East Coast,- nadale nito sa isa sa mga produkto ng Kellogg na nabanggit sa news... Hindi na yata nahabol sa grocery store, nabili nila at nakain ng bata....

Nakakatakot din....

7303:soda:

[Burai]

nagagamot naman po yung sakit na to diba?
(para naman mapakalma mga natamaan kung meron man)

[pup2]

Nagagamot naman -- pero hindi madali, lalo yung typhoid. Nakakamatay yun pag nahuli ang diagnosis or treatment.