(CIDRAP News) – A woman whose 7-year-old son became severely ill after eating tainted peanut butter crackers told a Senate committee today that the nation needs an electronic registry of foodborne disease cases to help public health agencies recognize outbreaks and find their causes faster.
(CIDRAP News) The case count in the nationwide Salmonella outbreak tied to peanut butter climbed to 550 yesterday, as federal officials announced an effort to use "social media" such as podcasts and YouTube videos to keep consumers abreast of product recalls and other developments in the outbreak.
CIDRAP News President Barack Obama called today for a "complete review" of the operations of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the wake of the ongoing outbreak of Salmonella in peanuts and peanut butter.
(CIDRAP News) – The US Food and Drug Administration said today it is starting a criminal investigation of Peanut Corp. of America (PCA), the company whose peanut processing plant in Georgia has been linked with a Salmonella outbreak involving more than 500 cases nationwide.
The FDA announcement came amid a flurry of other developments related to the outbreak:
(CIDRAP News) The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today released its inspection findings on the Georgia peanut butter plant that has been linked to a nationwide Salmonella outbreak, saying the company shipped products that had initially tested positive for Salmonella and citing various other questionable practices.
(CIDRAP News) A physician's report of diarrhea cases in a nursing home, followed by the discovery of cases in several other institutions, provided the key that enabled Minnesota disease detectives to figure out before anyone else that peanut butter was the culprit in the current nationwide Salmonella outbreak.
(CIDRAP News) More than 125 products, including a few pet foods, have been included in recalls prompted by the nationwide Salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter, and the list continues to grow, US officials said today.
(CIDRAP News) Salmonella found in an unopened container of peanut butter in Connecticut has been genetically matched to the nationwide disease outbreak, confirming that it stems from a Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) facility in Georgia, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced late yesterday.
(CIDRAP News) The company implicated in the national Salmonella outbreak has recalled more of its peanut products, some distributed beyond US borders, as Kellogg Corp. announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has found the pathogen in one package of its peanut butter sandwich crackers.
(CIDRAP News) Amid growing evidence of Salmonella contamination at a peanut processing plant in Georgia, US health officials yesterday warned consumers to avoid eating any commercially made products containing peanut butter and any peanut butter served in institutions such as schools and nursing homes until investigators learn more about which products may be tainted. The warning does not include peanut butter sold in jars directly to consumers.
