Tainted Peanut Butter May Have Killed 5, Sickened 453 (Update2)

By Catherine Larkin

Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Peanut butter tainted with salmonella bacteria
sickened 453 people and may have caused five deaths, up from last week's
count, U.S. health officials said. 

The outbreak has spread to 43 states and Canada since mid- September,
said Robert Tauxe, deputy director of the Division of
Foodborne, Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases at the Atlanta-based Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, on a conference call
today. About 22 percent of those infected have reported being
hospitalized. 

The CDC and the Food and Drug Administration are focusing their
investigation on a Blakely, Georgia, plant where closely held Peanut
Corp. of America makes peanut butter and peanut paste. Kellogg Co. and King Nut Cos.
halted sales of products made from Peanut Corp. ingredients this week.
Officials urged 32 companies supplied by Peanut Corp. to take similar
precautions. 

"We don't yet have the data to provide consumers with specific
information about what brands or products they should avoid," said
Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for
Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. 

The count was fewer than 400 illnesses last week. A sixth death, of an
elderly man in North Carolina, was reported today by the Associated
Press. Tauxe said that information hadn't been verified by the CDC. 

Schools, Hospitals 

King Nut recalled its King Nut
and Parnell's Pride brand peanut butters on Jan. 10 after salmonella was
identified in one open five-pound tub. The Solon, Ohio, company
distributes peanut butter through food-service accounts to school,
hospitals, universities, health-care facilities and restaurants. 

Peanut paste is used in a variety of products, including cookies,
crackers and ice cream. Kellogg, of Battle Creek, Michigan, put a
"precautionary hold" on its Austin and Keebler peanut butter crackers on
Jan. 14, pending results of the investigation. 

Peanut butter sold in grocery stores doesn't appear to be associated
with the outbreak, officials said. 

To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Larkin in Washington at
clarkin4@bloomberg.net. 

Last Updated: January 16, 2009 18:58 EST