Peanut butter-related salmonella outbreak doesn't affect Saga, Inc.
Katie Rose McEneely
Issue date: 1/29/09 Section: News
Students need not fear salmonella in their peanut butter sandwiches, despite product recalls throughout the United States.
Although Gordon Food Services and Kellogg Co., both suppliers for Saga, Inc., issued urgent recall notices on Jan. 16, Saga General Manager Kevin Kirwan responded to the potential hazard on Jan. 13. After further consultation with the distributor, he discerned that Saga had not purchased any of the contaminated products.
"We were ahead of the [Food and Drug Administration]," Kirwan said.
Kirwan consulted a sales representative from GFS on Jan. 13 and received a response on Jan.14 stating that no recalls had been issued from the FDA for any GFS product.
But after Saga President Tim Morrison saw a warning about the outbreak on Fox News, Saga pulled all peanut butter from the cafeteria. It waited 36 hours for a second confirmation from GFS before putting it back out.
"We took precautions just to be on the safe side," Kirwan said. "We wanted confirmation again."
Salmonella is a bacterium commonly linked to food-born illness. Symptoms usually begin within 72 hours of ingesting contaminated items and include diarrhea, vomiting, cramps and fever.
The salmonella outbreak, initially reported by the FDA on Jan. 10, is connected to bulk containers of peanut butter and paste distributed by King Nut Peanut Butter and produced by the Peanut Corporation of America.
The contaminated product was sold to schools, hospitals and other institutions and was not available at retail locations, though food manufacturers such as Kellogg Co. and Clif Bar & Co., use peanut butter or peanut paste from PCA in consumer products.
As of Jan. 26, 492 people have been affected in 43 states, including Michigan. There have been seven deaths linked to the outbreak.
Although Gordon Food Services and Kellogg Co., both suppliers for Saga, Inc., issued urgent recall notices on Jan. 16, Saga General Manager Kevin Kirwan responded to the potential hazard on Jan. 13. After further consultation with the distributor, he discerned that Saga had not purchased any of the contaminated products.
"We were ahead of the [Food and Drug Administration]," Kirwan said.
Kirwan consulted a sales representative from GFS on Jan. 13 and received a response on Jan.14 stating that no recalls had been issued from the FDA for any GFS product.
But after Saga President Tim Morrison saw a warning about the outbreak on Fox News, Saga pulled all peanut butter from the cafeteria. It waited 36 hours for a second confirmation from GFS before putting it back out.
"We took precautions just to be on the safe side," Kirwan said. "We wanted confirmation again."
Salmonella is a bacterium commonly linked to food-born illness. Symptoms usually begin within 72 hours of ingesting contaminated items and include diarrhea, vomiting, cramps and fever.
The salmonella outbreak, initially reported by the FDA on Jan. 10, is connected to bulk containers of peanut butter and paste distributed by King Nut Peanut Butter and produced by the Peanut Corporation of America.
The contaminated product was sold to schools, hospitals and other institutions and was not available at retail locations, though food manufacturers such as Kellogg Co. and Clif Bar & Co., use peanut butter or peanut paste from PCA in consumer products.
As of Jan. 26, 492 people have been affected in 43 states, including Michigan. There have been seven deaths linked to the outbreak.
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