Spring Break
Prof. warns students about salmonella outbreak
CSU reacts to peanut recall, assures student safety
Shelley Woll
Issue date: 1/26/09 Section: News
The recent outbreak of salmonella that has forced peanut butter products off the shelf nationwide has led university food providers to take precautions to avoid spreading the foodborne illness.
Pat Kendall, professor of food science and nutrition, said students should take caution when eating foods containing peanut butter, especially ready-to-eat products.
"The problem with this particular outbreak is that there are a lot of ready-to-eat products that are getting recalled or have been recalled," Kendall said, adding that the Center for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration advise calling manufactures first to make sure their product is safe.
"Only the ready-to-eat products like peanut butter crackers that you would find in your desk drawer are a concern," she added.
The salmonella outbreaks have been traced back to a Peanut Corporation of America plant in Blakely, Georgia.
According to a release on it's Web site, Peanut Corp. "distributed to institutions, food service industries, and private label food companies" across 24 states, including Colorado, along with provinces in Canada, Korea and Haiti. According to the release, none of Peanut Corp. products were sold directly to consumers.
Hundreds of products have been recalled since the first outbreaks in early January, including brownies, cakes, candy, cookies, crackers, energy bars, ice cream and even pet food.
Deon Lategan, director of Dining Services, said students should not worry about consuming food from the dining halls.
"We have been monitoring the FDA Web site and also the environmental services from CSU, and the peanut butter we use is not affected," Lategan said. "However, there are ingredients of some products that there has been an voluntary recall on, and we have pulled those (products)."
Lategan said only granola products using peanut butter as an ingredient have been removed from dining halls.
"We are not providing them until they're safe," Lategan said. "We do use other products that have peanut butter in them like cookies, and our vendors have assured us that those products were not made from that batch that was contaminated."
Pat Kendall, professor of food science and nutrition, said students should take caution when eating foods containing peanut butter, especially ready-to-eat products.
"The problem with this particular outbreak is that there are a lot of ready-to-eat products that are getting recalled or have been recalled," Kendall said, adding that the Center for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration advise calling manufactures first to make sure their product is safe.
"Only the ready-to-eat products like peanut butter crackers that you would find in your desk drawer are a concern," she added.
The salmonella outbreaks have been traced back to a Peanut Corporation of America plant in Blakely, Georgia.
According to a release on it's Web site, Peanut Corp. "distributed to institutions, food service industries, and private label food companies" across 24 states, including Colorado, along with provinces in Canada, Korea and Haiti. According to the release, none of Peanut Corp. products were sold directly to consumers.
Hundreds of products have been recalled since the first outbreaks in early January, including brownies, cakes, candy, cookies, crackers, energy bars, ice cream and even pet food.
Deon Lategan, director of Dining Services, said students should not worry about consuming food from the dining halls.
"We have been monitoring the FDA Web site and also the environmental services from CSU, and the peanut butter we use is not affected," Lategan said. "However, there are ingredients of some products that there has been an voluntary recall on, and we have pulled those (products)."
Lategan said only granola products using peanut butter as an ingredient have been removed from dining halls.
"We are not providing them until they're safe," Lategan said. "We do use other products that have peanut butter in them like cookies, and our vendors have assured us that those products were not made from that batch that was contaminated."
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