Georgia peanut butter plant tests positive, link to outbreak in waiting

Peanut butter at a processing facility in Blakely, Ga., may have been producing salmonella-laced peanut butter.

Further tests will show if it is the same strain responsible for a nationwide outbreak which has sickened more than 400 people and which may have contributed to 5 deaths.

The Georgia Agriculture Commissioner said there is no positive link to salmonella on peanut butter tested at that facility. However, two initial tests have not ruled it out.

An open jar of peanut butter discovered at a Minnesota nursing home facility tested positive earlier this week for the exact strain of salmonella which has led to a nationwide outbreak.

Since then, nearly all the supply of peanut butter produced by Peanut Corporation of America, of Lynchburg, Va., has been recalled. This includes the brands Parnell’s Pride and King Nut.

Yesterday, Kellogg Company issued a recall on all its snack crackers – sold under the brand names Keebler and Austin – containing peanut butter.