NH DHHS Provides Updates on Nut Butter Recall

Concord, NH – The peanut butter recall announced recently linked to

products manufactured by Sunland, Inc. has been expanded. The company is

voluntarily recalling hundreds of products dating back to March 1, 2010

because of possible Salmonella contamination. A total of 35 persons

infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Bredeney have been reported

from 19 states. Five new cases have been reported from three states since

September 25, 2012. No cases of Salmonella linked to this outbreak have

been identified in New Hampshire.



The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Division

of Public Health Services is conducting surveillance to identify possible

cases and following the investigation closely, which is being conducted by

the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention (CDC). FDA announced that environmental samples

taken from the Sunland, Inc. nut butter production facility in New Mexico

show the presence of Salmonella, and the Washington State Department of

Agriculture laboratory isolated the outbreak strain of Salmonella Bredeney

from an opened jar of recalled peanut butter collected from a

case-patient’s home.



“Since the range of products is broad and peanut butter has a long shelf

life it is important that all consumers check their cupboards for this

product,” said Dr. José Montero, Director of Public Health at DHHS. “Most

people recover from salmonellosis, but it has serious implications for

young children especially, who are also the most likely to consume peanut

butter products.”



These products were distributed nationwide including in New Hampshire and

online. Yesterday Sunland Inc. expanded its ongoing recall to include all

products made in the Sunland nut butter production facility between March

1, 2010 and September 24, 2012. The company reports that it is adding 139

products to the recall, bringing the total number of products being

recalled by Sunland Inc. to 240. If consumers have any of these products at

home they are advised to discard them immediately and not eat them. A

complete list of recalled products is available on Sunland’s website at

www.sunlandinc.com/788/html/pdfs/SunlandRecall.pdf.



Salmonella is a bacterium that can cause serious and sometimes fatal

infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and those with

weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often

experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and

abdominal pain. Some cases may be more severe and people may even need to

be hospitalized. In these patients, the Salmonella infection may spread

from the intestines to the blood stream, and then to other body sites and

can cause death unless the person is treated promptly with antibiotics.



This may be an evolving situation so consumers are advised to check the

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website at

http://www.fda.gov/Food/default.htm for updates. For more information on

these products, consumers can call Sunland, Inc. at 1-866-837-1018. The

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is conducting an

investigation into possible cases of illness and has information about the

outbreak on their website at

http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/bredeney-09-12/index.html. For questions

about salmonellosis, call the DHHS Division of Public Health Services,

Bureau of Infectious Disease Control at (603) 271-4496.