‘Bad’ peanut butter also sold in RP

WASHINGTON (AP) – Tainted peanut butter that caused salmonella in 41 of the 50 US states also was sold in more than 60 other countries including the Philippines, the manufacturer said yesterday.

Stephanie Childs, a spokeswoman for manufacturer ConAgra Foods Inc., said word of the problem has gone out everywhere peanut butter is sold under the Peter Pan and Great Value label: if the top on the jar has a number starting with "2111," do not eat it.

"This is a full recall, including all the products," Childs said.

The countries and territories to which salmonella-tainted peanut butter was exported, according to ConAgra Foods Inc. are the following:

ASIA: China, Guam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Philippines, Taiwan, Samoa, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam.

CARIBBEAN-LATIN AMERICA: American Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curacao, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Tortola, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Venezuela.

EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST and AFRICA: Angola, Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iceland, India, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates.

The number code designates the packing plant where the product originated, in Sylvester, Georgia.

Georgia, a southern state, produces about 40 percent of the US yield of peanuts, which are known in many places as groundnuts. The state’s most famous peanut farmer is former President Jimmy Carter.

In the US the tainted peanut butter has been blamed for sickening 329 people in 41 states since August. Salmonella is a bacterium found in feces that can cause severe diarrhea.

The recall has had at least one reported result so far. During the weekend, China announced a recall of the peanut butter. The official Xinhua news agency said three batches of the two brands were imported between September and January, totaling 742 cases.

The agency said at least 156 cases already had been sold in Beijing, and even though the lids had the suspect code, no one had reported being sickened by the peanut butter.

ConAgra’s Web site advises consumers who identify the possibly tainted product from its lid to discard it, saving the lid or label to submit for a refund. Those should be mailed to distributors listed for each country on the Web site, the company said.