News reports have recently determined that the cost of the most recent peanut butter recall may have cost consumers, manufacturers and health officials hundreds of millions of dollars and caused a significant decline in peanut products, thus increasing the overall costs lost by officials, according to Associated Press figures derived from Congressional hearings from Peanut Butter Corp of America.
Michigan alone has spent nearly $400,000 monitoring peanut butter products entering the state, according to local newspaper reports. In addition to costly recalls, the Public News Service just announced several additional peanut butter product recalls.
Peanut Butter Recall
The recall began January 13 and has sickened more than 700 individuals across 46 states as well as resulted in the death of approximately nine Americans. On January 9, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began an investigation at the Blakely, Georgia plant of the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). On January 27, by the time more than 400 individuals were sickened, the FDA concluded that improper methods had been used when monitoring and testing the peanut butter for salmonella.
Following the initial peanut butter recall on January 13, the PCA made another voluntary recall on January 28 for products made in the previous two years, all of which could have been tainted with salmonella, according to FDA public health advisories. On February 5, the FDA posted an amendment to its initial reports involving PCA records and stated that the information given to them by the PCA was not consistent with the information the FDA uncovered during their investigation. Congressional hearings were then set to further investigate the salmonella infections among many Americans. Dealing With Peanut Butter Risks While hundreds of Americans were reportedly affected by the peanut butter recall of 2009, health officials anticipate that number to be much higher as many individuals likely were sickened by tainted peanut butter without knowledge of their actually condition.
Those who feel they may have been sickened by the salmonella outbreak should contact a medical professional to be tested for their symptoms in order to confirm or dissolve any theories of a salmonella diagnosis. Additionally, individuals who have suffered from a salmonella diagnosis are encouraged to speak with a food safety law firm in order to better understand the details for a potential peanut butter recall lawsuit, which could result in the award of monetary compensation for salmonella poisoning victims. It is imperative that individuals receive compensation for the potential dangers exposed to them by such a recall.