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I would never have thought that such an innocuous food item would cause such a ruckus all over the country – and even spill to some other countries in the world. But yes, the all time favorite snack of a lot of children and adults is at the forefront of a health issue that has been agitating the nation. So what is going on?

If you read the news, you’ll find out that certain brands of US-made peanut butter have been found to contain salmonella. We normally associate salmonella with raw food such as chicken meat and eggs. If not washed and cooked properly, these food items may contain salmonella, which causes nausea, vomiting, and stomach cramps, among other things. The worst case scenario would be fatal food poisoning.

The thing about salmonella-infected peanut butter is that this food item is being consumed in large quantities in every day life. From peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to cakes to ice cream to cookies – children (and again, adults) consume these food items on a regular basis all over the United States. In fact, school cafeterias are among the first groups to take note of the salmonella outbreak.

All over the country, authorities have been checking on the peanut butter supply of school cafeterias and in cases wherein salmonella has been found, the whole stock is recalled or destroyed. Peanut butter manufacturers are also recalling their products, just to be on the safe side. An example would be Glastonbury:

Glastonbury school officials notified parents via an e-mail Tuesday that all peanut butter and related products had been removed from school cafeterias. Although the school system doesn’t use the brand of peanut butter linked to the salmonella outbreak, school officials decided to destroy $1,000 worth of peanut butter tubs, crackers and related products just to be safe.

Although authorities say that the contaminated tubs of peanut butter are usually used for commercial purposes and that the peanut butter that we normally buy for household use is not affected – yet – it probably would be safer to stay without some of this delicious stuff for now. Consumer Protection Commission Jerry Farrell Jr. said:

“The advice we’re giving to consumers is to hold off on consuming peanut butter products. At the end of the day, we don’t have information as yet that we can conclusively say that a particular peanut butter wasn’t used in certain products.”

As for your school cafeteria, you might want to check with them if they have put up the necessary measures with regard to the salmonella outbreak.

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