Minnesota health officials may have identified the food item responsible for infecting 388 persons with Salmonella Typhimurium. Preliminary testing by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, has detected the presence of Salmonella in a 5-pound container of King Nut brand creamy peanut butter.
State health officials believe that the King Nut brand peanut butter was distributed to long-term care facilities, hospitals, schools, universities, restaurants, delis, cafeterias and bakeries. The product was not known to be distributed for retail sale.
The peanut butter was tested for Salmonella after the state’s epidemiological investigation pointed to King Nut peanut butter as the potential source of infection for Minnesota residents who had tested positive for the outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium. Salmonella isolated from the peanut butter samples will have to be linked (by DNA fingerprinting) to the national outbreak. Laboratory tests are expected early next week.
If further testing confirms Minnesota Health Department’s findings, this will be the second nationwide Salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter in the past 2 years. In February of 2007, Peter Pan brand peanut butter was identified as the source of a Salmonella Tennessee outbreak resulting in over 600 confirmed cases of Salmonella food poisoning.
If you believe that became ill as a result of eating King Nut peanut butter, contact your health care provider. He or she can order a stool culture to determine if you are infected with Salmonella.
To learn more about Salmonella food poisoning, please see Salmonella Symptoms and Complications. Or, visit our additional website related to food safety and food poisoning litigation, www.foodpoisoning.com.
The Law Firm of Eric Weinberg, along with co-counsel Andrew Childers of Atlanta, Georgia, represent hundreds of individuals who were sickened in the Peter Pan Salmonella outbreak of 2007. If you have a question concerning your legal rights, please call us toll free at 1-877-934-6274, or see Free Legal Case Evaluation.
To read additional postings on this topic, please click Salmonella Typhimurium Outbreak, CDC Confirms Salmonella Typhimurium Outbreak, and Little Known About Salmonella Typhimurium Outbreak.