Trader Joe’s has issued a voluntary recall of its Creamy Salted Valencia Peanut Butter because of possible salmonella contamination, according to a company statement released to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Saturday.
The Monrovia-based company removed the peanut butter (pictured below) from their shelves in advance of the recall, but says customers may still have potentially contaminated jars on their shelves.
Distributed nationwide, the peanut butter comes in a 16-ounce plastic jar with an expiration date stamped below the lid. All code dates are included in this recall, the company said.
Salmonella can cause diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. It is most dangerous to children, the elderly and others with weak immune systems.
Twenty-nine cases of salmonella in 18 states have been linked to the peanut butter, the Associated Press reports, citing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
More than three-fourths of those who became ill were children under the age of 18. No deaths have been reported.
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The government did not release which states had reported illnesses, but several states have issued warnings to residents not to eat the peanut butter. According to the individual states' health departments, three cases were in Massachusetts, one was in Rhode Island and one was in North Carolina.
People became sick between June 11 and Sept. 2. Information may not be available for those who were sickened after August, the CDC reported.
Still, the specialty grocery chain says they've received no confirmed reports of illness.
"We have no confirmed information that suggests this peanut butter is unsafe to eat," the company stated. But the food should not be eaten "pending health-related inquiries."
The Food and Drug Administration posted the company's voluntary recall on its web site, but did not comment on the company's statement.
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