Peanut Butter Snacks Contain Salmonella

WASHINGTON – A sweeping warning comes from the Food and Drug Administration about one of America’s favorite foods, peanut butter.

TheFDA says you should avoid any snack food that includes peanut butter in the ingredientsbecauseit may be contaminated with salmonella bacteria. Salmonella can cause nausea, diarrhea and vomiting, andoccasionally even more serious illnesses like typhoid fever, meningitis and pneumonia.

Officials believe they can trace thesalmonella toa plant in Blakely, Georgia owned by the Peanut Corporation of America. The plant supplies various companies with peanut butter and peanut paste.

Some companies voluntarily are pulling their products from shelves, including:

Keebler – Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers and Soft Batch Homestyle Peanut Butter Cookies Snack-size packs of Famous Amos Peanut Butter Cookies Little Debbie – Peanut Butter Toasty Crackers and Peanut Butter Cheese Crackers

The nationwide outbreak is now linked to 470 illnesses and 6 deaths since it began in September.