Is Any Peanut Butter Safe To Eat? - Consumer Watch - Consumer Reports | ABC30 Fresno

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By ABC30

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Consumer Watch "It is very confusing, so, we try not to buy any peanut butter products," said Henny Azali a shopper in North Fresno.

There is reason for concern. Nationwide nearly five hundred people in 43 states have gotten salmonella poisoning. More than 60 of those who got sick are in California.

"It just seems like with each passing day the list of recalled products gets longer and longer. And recently we've had two cases of Salmonella here in Tulare," said Ray Bullick, Tulare County's Director of Health Services.

According to state health officials, the salmonella outbreak took place in October. Recent tests confirmed those cases were linked to the others nationwide. Tests identified peanut butter products as the culprit. And more are being added ...

"We think it's important for the public to continue to monitor news reports about the latest products that may contain peanut butter that is linked to the outbreak of illnesses and if they have such a product in their home to discard it," said Ken August, of the California Department of Public Health.

That's advice many like Fresno resident Jennifer Oren are taking."I'm gonna go home and throw things away. After I heard about it on the news, I'm going to home and throw away our peanut butter and our snacks that have peanut butter in them." She said.

Stores are clearing shelves of recalled products, and keeping them away from customers. Even peanut butter pet snacks sold by Pet Smart are affected. But the treats sold at this pet bakery in North Fresno are not. Owner Diane Young say, "We're not worried about it because I called the source of where we get our peanut butter from and they said there was no problem with it whatsoever."

The important thing to remember is that it's just products that contain peanut butter, not jars of peanut butter. They are said to be safe.

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