Food Poisoning Recall List - Check Your Storage

There is a serious food contamination alert. People can die from it, or become very ill from eating the contaminated food. 

This update on the food recall is written October 11, 2012. The list on this post still applies, but I got on an email notification list and have been getting hundreds of additional foods that have been recalled. The majority of these additional recalled foods are highly processed desserts and snack foods. 

The FDA site should have some additional recalled foods on it. Eating highly processed foods is not that great just because of the preservatives and other chemicals in them. Now they can make you sick or die from food poisoning as well. I find the huge list of recalled foods to check for to be too much work to check. My approach to this is to stop eating any desserts or snacks that I don't make myself. If you are overwhelmed by the immensity of the number of recalled foods to watch out for, you may wish to only eat homemade snacks and desserts for a while, as well.

I am giving my readers a list of foods that have been recalled due to a salmonella contamination. The largest group of items on this list are peanut butter and things made with it, but there are also other nuts and even tahini.

The original source of the contamination was a wholesale company that sells peanut butter by the barrel to other manufacturers who process it and put their own labels on it. Many of the labels are ones that might be found in health food stores.

You need to read the list and make certain that none of your food storage or everyday foods is on the list.

Here is a link to a site that has the list of contaminated foods:

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/food-poisoning/news/20120926/peanut-butter-recall-expanded

Here is the Food and Drug Administration's site for recalled items. 

http://www.fda.gov/AJAX/All/default.htm?Label=All%20Recalls

It has a lot more on it than the peanut butter, almond butter, tahini recall. You might want to print it out and examine your food storage and carry it with you on shopping trips. 

The length of this list is daunting to me. Since I already looked at the other list, I also know that this list does not go into adequate detail and items on the other list are not on this one. That makes me wonder what else is left off of this list.

I am going to include a link to the Center for Disease Control site for you here also. I hope that one has recalled items that are not on the FDA site. 
http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/bredeney-09-12/index.html

Here is a link to different types of food poisonings by year - there are a lot more of them than this one for 2012.
www.cdc.gov/salmonella/bredeney-09-12/index.html

Here is the CDC "advice to consumers, etc.":

Advice to Consumers, Retailers, and Others

Contaminated peanut butter and other products containing nuts and seeds   [PDF - 5 pages] may make people sick.

• Based on available information, CDC recommends that consumers do not eat recalled peanut butter and other products containing nuts and seeds and dispose of any remaining jars of these products in the home or return the jars to the place of purchase.
  • This is especially important for children under the age of 5 years, older adults, and people with weak immune systems.
• Persons who think they might have become ill from eating possibly contaminated peanut butter or other products containing nuts and seeds should consult their health care providers.
  • Symptoms include:
    • Diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection.
    • The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days, and most persons recover without treatment.
    • See Signs and Symptoms for more information.

Contaminated peanut butter and other products containing nuts and seeds may still be in consumers' homes or available for sale on the internet.

Here are the signs and symptoms of this type of salmonella illness:

Signs & Symptoms

Most persons infected with Salmonella bacteria develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days, and most persons recover without treatment. However, in some persons, the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. Salmonella infection may spread from the intestines to the bloodstream and then to other body sites and can cause death unless the person is treated promptly with antibiotics. Older adults, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have a severe illness from Salmonella infection. More information about Salmonella, and steps people can take to reduce their risk of infection with Salmonella in general, can be found on the CDC Salmonella Web Page and the CDC Vital Signs Web Page.

You can also get food borne illnesses from your food at home. It is a good idea to read more about how to prevent this by using good food handling techniques and cleanliness. 


I will not post this weekend, but will be back with a new post on Monday, October 1.