By Alice Seeley
J.M. Smucker’s recall of Jif peanut butter products has rapidly expanded in the past week to 69 other products from multiple companies. These products include fruit or veggie snack packs with individually wrapped Jif cups, Del Monte’s PB&J sandwiches, and pastries made with Jif peanut butter, including fudge and pies.
Last week, J.M. Smucker Co., Jif’s parent company, issued a voluntary recall of 49 Jif peanut butter products, from .75 ounce cups to twin packs of 40-ounce jars, after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) traced a salmonella outbreak to its manufacturing factory in Lexington, Kentucky. The company stated that products with lot codes located next to the “best if used by” date, between 1274425 to 2140425, are potentially contaminated.
The companies issuing recalls include Wawa, Country Fresh, the Coblentz Chocolate Company, Walmart, and Fudgeamentals. The FDA urges customers to throw out or return all recalled products, and Smucker Co. will reimburse consumers who have thrown away Jif’s peanut butter. Smucker Co. is “confident” it has properly defined the scope of the recall, and the incident was isolated to its Lexington manufacturing plant.
The recall affects not only Americans, according to the FDA, but also 10 additional countries, from Canada and the Dominican Republic to Thailand and Japan.
Currently, 16 individuals from 12 states have fallen ill from this salmonella outbreak. Only two of these have been hospitalized. However, the actual number of people who are sick is likely “much higher” because many people recover without medical help, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The first case was recorded on February 19, and the most recent was on May 2. Affected individuals range from less than one year old to 85 years old.
This salmonella outbreak is currently being investigated by the FDA, the CDC, and other agencies.
