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Recall Keeps Retailers on Alert

As one of the nation's largest-ever food recalls widens, retailers are stepping up their efforts to remain up-to-date about the peanut products that must be pulled from their shelves. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said last week that additional peanut product recalls were expected in the wake of a salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 500 people and could be the cause

WASHINGTON — As one of the nation's largest-ever food recalls widens, retailers are stepping up their efforts to remain up-to-date about the peanut products that must be pulled from their shelves.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said last week that additional peanut product recalls were expected in the wake of a salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 500 people and could be the cause of eight deaths.

The voluntary recall list soared from 400 to nearly 1,085 products between Jan. 30 and Feb. 3. Affected products span categories including ice cream, snack bars, cookies, crackers and pet food.

The recall affects peanut butter and peanut paste, peanut granules, peanut meal, and dry- and oil-roasted peanuts produced by the Peanut Corporation of America at its Blakely, Ga., processing plant on or after Jan. 1, 2007.

As of last week, there was no evidence that the major national peanut butter brands are contaminated, according to Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

Along with pulling any affected national brands, Wegmans Food Markets, Rochester, N.Y., contacted each of its suppliers to verify the source of ingredients it uses in its private-label products, according to its website. Selected private-label items, including several varieties of ice cream, have been found to contain peanut butter or paste sourced from PCA and were removed from the shelves.

United Supermarkets, Lubbock, Texas, has published an online list of all food that has been removed from its banners. To date, the list includes about 40 items, including peanut butter flavor Clif Bars, Little Debbie Peanut Butter & Cheese Crackers, and Keebler Toast & Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers.

United stays on top of the latest recall news via notifications from the Food Marketing Institute, Washington.

The FDA encourages retailers to visit www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/index.cfm to get up-to-date info on recalled products. Also at the site is a widget, an application that displays featured content on personal Web pages. Retailers can use the widget to get immediate FDA recall updates.

While the industry has recently faced other large recalls, such as certain kinds of tomatoes last year, the peanut situation is unique because it affects products typically marketed to kids, said Tyra Carter, United's corporate dietitian.

“Peanut butter is one of the most popular foods around,” said Carter, noting that it's a good source of protein and is convenient to store and use.

Another reason why the situation is so significant is that numerous products have peanuts in them.

“I don't think people realized how many products have peanuts or peanut butter as an ingredient,” she said.

United has posted recall notification signs where affected products were once shelved. Store directors have been instructed to communicate that all recalled products have been addressed.

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