WORTHINGTON -- Worthington's Hy-Vee and Wal-Mart are among a large group of grocery stores across the country offering refunds to customers who have purchased Peter Pan or Great Value peanut butter brands involved in a recall because of salmonella.
Both stores were directed to remove jars of peanut butter from their shelves after an outbreak of Salmonella Tennessee was traced to peanut butter manufactured by a Con-Agra Foods facility in Georgia. The affected jars contain a product code of "2111" on the lid.
Brian Olson, manager of operations for Worthington's Hy-Vee, said the store had a handful of affected jars of peanut butter returned to the store for a refund, while Wal-Mart assistant manager Kevin Kellner was unaware of just how many jars had been brought in. There were a couple of shopping carts located at Wal-Mart's customer service over the weekend, however, that contained dozens of jars of the product under both the Peter Pan and Great Value labels.
Dan Fogleman, a corporate spokesperson for Wal-Mart, said all jars of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter with the affected product code were immediately removed from store shelves, and a sales restriction was placed on the product just in case someone had found a jar. The restriction notified the cashier of the recall, preventing a customer from purchasing the product.
"At Wal-Mart, food safety is always a top priority for us," said Fogleman, adding that the company is working closely with Con-Agra to understand the details of the recall.
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For customers who have jars of the affected peanut butter, Fogleman said Wal-Mart is offering a full refund. Great Value is a house brand for Wal-Mart, but Fogleman said not all of the peanut butter under the Great Value logo was impacted.
"We do have various manufacturers for Great Value -- not all is manufactured by Con-Agra," Fogleman said. "The key thing is to look for that 2111 (product code)."
Jason Kloss, sanitarian with Nobles-Rock Community Health Services, said first and foremost, people who have Peter Pan or Great Value peanut butter with the product code 2111 should not consume the product -- regardless if the jar is almost empty or nearly full.
"Not everything is contaminated, but certain jars in that lot number are," said Kloss. "Just to be safe, discard it all, or take it back to the store.
"If you have eaten it and not gotten sick, consider yourself lucky," he added. "Or, perhaps you were sick and you didn't realize it. Perhaps it wasn't a large enough dose to make you ill."
Symptoms of salmonella include diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps within 12 to 72 hours after consumption. The illness typically lasts from four to seven days. Most people recover without treatment.
According to information released Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control, the Salmonella outbreak caused illness in 288 patients in 39 states. Five of those cases were in Minnesota -- involving an 18-month-old female, 8-year-old female, 24-year-old female, and two males, ages 62 and 63. Since the first case of Salmonella Tennessee was reported in Minnesota last September, only one individual required hospitalization, compared to 31 people nationwide.
The outbreak investigation is based on cases that had been documented between Aug. 1, 2006 and Jan. 21.
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People who have become ill after eating Peter Pan or Great Value peanut butter with the product code "2111" -- and have been ill for at least three days with fever and diarrhea -- may report it by calling the Minnesota Department of Health at (866) 676-5414.
