We’d like your feedback

HHS will be retiring the Peanut Product Recall Blog.  The FDA Recalls Twitter feed currently has over 1,600 followers and the Peanut Product Recall Widget is now on over 5,000 Web sites.  These tools allow consumers to access specific product information about the ongoing Peanut Product Recall and enable them to make decisions to protect their health.  Additional recall information is also available from the FDA and, as discussed in the post below, additional social media products allow consumers and partners to learn and share information with others.

We’d like your feedback on what worked and what we could have done to better.  Specifically:

a) What would have made the Peanut Product Recall Blog more helpful or interesting?

b) Is there value in retaining an archive version of the blog online or can it be removed from our Web site entirely?

Please leave us your comments!

 

 

Update: Blog statistics as requested in comment below.

 

 

Date	Page Views
1/29/2009	211
1/30/2009	229
1/31/2009	60
2/1/2009	39
2/2/2009	319
2/3/2009	346
2/4/2009	2030
2/5/2009	1300
2/6/2009	836
2/7/2009	259
2/8/2009	206
2/9/2009	521
2/10/2009	505
2/11/2009	594
2/12/2009	755
2/13/2009	1043
2/14/2009	529
2/15/2009	484
2/16/2009	758
2/17/2009	837
2/18/2009	1090
2/19/2009	773
2/20/2009	485
2/21/2009	225
2/22/2009	189
2/23/2009	488

Has This Peanut Product Been Recalled? FDA Website Makes It Easy to Find Out.

Jack Guzewich, Acting Deputy Director, Office of Food Defense, Communication, and Emergency Response, at the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition

Have you noticed a difference in our website here at the FDA?  During the current Salmonella outbreak, our website has been warning consumers to avoid certain peanuts and peanut products that are affected by the outbreak – but that’s nothing new; we’ve always let consumers know about potentially contaminated foods that could harm them. 

What’s new is that our website has made it easier for you to find out if peanuts or peanut products you’ve bought, or want to buy, have been recalled.  Besides the list of recalled products we usually post, we now offer a searchable database of the recalled products, available at www.fda.gov/salmonella.  Enter the name of the product you want to find out about, and the database will show you if it’s among those that have been recalled.

For example, if you enter a brand name in the search box, recalled products carrying that brand name will pop up.  You can search the database in several ways, including by:

• brand name or
• the UPC code that appears on the product or
• a description of the product or
• any combination of the above.

Another Easy Option

If you just want to do it the old-fashioned way and look over our website’s traditional list of peanuts and peanut products that have been recalled, instead of searching the database, we’ve tried to make things easier for you, too.  The items in the traditional list are divided into categories with easy-to-read headings; for example, cakes, ice cream, peanut butter, pet food, etc., and you can browse over the list or look through it to find a specific product or brand.

It bears repeating:   If either of these options on our website shows you that a product you’ve bought has been recalled, that means you should throw it out in a manner that keeps it out of reach of other people and of pets.  Please wash your hands with hot, soapy water after you’ve discarded the product.

If you know people who don’t have computers, let them know they can still find out if a product is on the recall list.  They can make a free phone call to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 24-hour phone line, at 1-800-CDC-INFO (or 1-800-232-4636).  A representative will help them find out what they want to know.

Sign Up for Automatic E-mail Notices of Recalls

Did you know that you can sign up with FDA to have recall notices automatically sent to you by e-mail?  FDA will send you companies’ announcements that they’re recalling a specific product or products, whether or not the products have been linked to an outbreak.

Free Widget Available

If you have your own blog or website, you might want to put our new widget on it.  It’s a searchable list of recalled peanut products that you can plug onto your site and that FDA will routinely update for you.  The updates will automatically show up on the widget, on your blog or website, so your readers will have the latest information. 

What Product Labels Won’t Tell You

I want to turn my attention to a related, but different, topic.  I want to make sure consumers understand that the name of the company we found to be the source of the Salmonella contamination – Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) – will not appear on the labels of most of the potentially contaminated peanuts and peanut products involved in this outbreak.

 In other words, you can’t just go into a grocery store, look at the label of a food containing peanuts or peanut products, and assume that it’s not being recalled if it doesn’t say “Peanut Corporation of America” somewhere on the label. 

The reason for this is that PCA sold peanuts and peanut products primarily to other manufacturers to use as ingredients in other foods, and those other foods carry the manufacturer’s label, not PCA’s name.  For example, if PCA sold peanut paste to another company for use in making crackers or cookies, the labels on those crackers or cookies would have the company's name – not PCA's name – on them. 

The good news is that the searchable database and recall list on the FDA website include these kinds of products.  That makes it even more important for you to check either the database or the list often, as more products may be added to them.

...And Check Company Websites

If you have a product that contains peanuts in your home, or you plan to buy one, it’s a good idea to check the website of the company that made the product – even if it doesn’t appear on FDA’s searchable database or recall list.  Companies issue recalls voluntarily.  In case they haven't yet provided their recall information to the FDA, for example, it's best to visit company websites as a final safety check to look for information about peanuts and peanut products you plan to eat or buy.  Please be aware, however, that FDA has not verified all information that may be on these websites.

The company website also may tell you if the company’s peanut products don't contain ingredients purchased from PCA.  For example, companies that make the major national brands of peanut butter sold in jars in grocery stores have told FDA that they don't buy ingredients from PCA.  These brands are not associated with the outbreak.

Access to Information Is a Key to Prevention

Recalled peanuts and peanut products made by PCA were used as ingredients in many different kinds of foods, resulting in a large number of recalls by other firms.  Protecting your health is our goal at FDA, and making it easy for you to find out what products have been recalled during this outbreak is helping us to prevent more illnesses.

Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack Addresses the Peanut Butter Recall and Explains USDA Services

The events of the past several weeks have provided us all with a stark reminder of how important it is to have a safe and dependable food supply. As consumers, we expect the food we serve our families to be safe and subject to a system of oversight that is up to the task of protecting our families.

I'm alarmed by the allegations that a domestic peanut butter manufacturer knowingly entered tainted peanut butter into the stream of commerce and provided contaminated product to school feeding programs. Americans need to have absolute trust in the safety of their food supply. The corporate irresponsibility and regulatory failure we have observed in recent weeks as the peanut butter recall expanded, warrants an in-depth review of how our current food safety system operates and what we can do to improve it and provide consumers with the safeguards Americans expect.

Despite the hard work of many at the Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration, more than 325,000 Americans are hospitalized each year because of food borne illness. It's time that we establish standards that will prevent food borne illness, reform the way that we inspect and test the safety of food, and take steps to create a modern, unified food safety agency capable of reducing the risk of food borne illness. I have directed our team at USDA to begin the process of putting together a framework for improving USDA's food safety system, and I look forward to working with other Administration officials to pursue broader, structural reform of our food safety system.

Although peanut butter is not one of the products regulated by USDA, the Department of Agriculture has participated in this current recall and has significant responsibilities for preventing and responding to outbreaks of food borne illness.

For instance, the USDA's Farm Service Agency procures commodity products for USDA's Food and Nutrition Service's domestic feeding and nutrition programs. Together they are working to ensure that products manufactured within the expanded recall dating back to January 2007, are not being used in any FNS domestic feeding program. On February 5, as a result of the Salmonella outbreak and subsequent investigation, USDA suspended and proposed to debar the Peanut Corporation of America from doing business with USDA feeding programs, including the school lunch program and food banks.

We will demand that our children's food choices not only be nutritious and wholesome, but also safe.

The USDA plays a critical role in ensuring public health and safety through its inspection program and requirement that countries that export meat and poultry to the United States meet standards equivalent to those applied to domestic facilities.

Our first line of defense in protecting the food supply is the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service inspection personnel. The Food Safety and Inspection Service has nearly 7,800 inspectors working in about 6,200 meat, poultry and processed egg plants every day of operation to ensure the safety of the food supply. For FSIS-regulated plants, we require each facility to have a risk management and mitigation plan in place and we collect microbiological samples and conduct visual inspections to ensure each facility's food safety plan is working. As part of our overall inspection program, FSIS inspectors verify food safety systems and as party of their comprehensive system, personnel collect product samples for foodborne pathogens including E. coli O157:H7, Listeria and Salmonella.

There are a lot of successes here at the USDA, but as I have said we can always do better. The time is right to modernize the food safety system.

We understand that consumers have a lot of questions, and we are proud to offer a diverse collection of educational and informational resources for all audiences, including Podcasts, SignFSIS video-casts in American Sign Language, the virtual representative Karen who is available 24/7 to answer any food safety question, or our food safety experts staffing the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline. 

Look Again — Be Safe

Over 2,000 peanut-containing products have been recalled and the number is growing… Not all of these products have peanuts on the label. Lots of products use peanut flour, peanut paste and other peanut ingredients. Chocolate chip cookies, Fruit bars, pet food, and prepared dinners are on the list. If the product has the word peanut in the ingredient list then check the recall database.

If you checked your pantry, your gym bag, your freezer, the vending machine, and your secret snack stash last week, it’s time to look again. Pick up the phone or send an e-card to remind your friends, family, and coworkers that the recall is still expanding.

Have questions? Send in a comment.

Ask Us Your Questions: What about my pet?

Your pet’s food may also be affected by the peanut-containing products recall so check the recall database for recalled pet products.  Safely throw out any recalled pet products and wash your hands.  If your pet has consumed a recalled product, contact your vet.  If you or anyone in your household becomes sick with diarrhea and has bloody stools, fever, or diarrhea lasting more than 3 days, he or she should seek medical attention.

Pets with Salmonella may seem tired and have a decreased appetite.  They may also have a fever, abdominal pain and diarrhea.  Sometimes they have no symptoms.  Salmonella can be shed in the stool of pets for 4 to 6 weeks after infection. If your pet is diagnosed with Salmonella, talk to your vet about taking precautions to minimize the spread of germs. All pet feces should be disposed of in a plastic bag and put in a sealed trash can. Always wash your hands right after handling pet feces.

Your risk of contracting salmonella from animals is minimal but there is a risk from handling contaminated pet products and stool.  As always, it’s important to wash your hands for at least 20 seconds (sing the ABC’s while you wash) with soap and water.  A mild bleach solution can be used to clean areas that may be contaminated with Salmonella.

Send an e-card to your friends and family to remind them to check their pet’s food.

 Have more questions?  Send in a comment.

Message from the Director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA

Dr. Stephen Sundlof, Director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at FDA

        FDA's mission is to protect and promote the health of Americans. FDA does many things every day to accomplish this mission related to the various types of FDA-regulated products, including food. Events surrounding the recent outbreak of illnesses caused by Salmonella Typhimurium bacteria show how FDA works with other public health authorities to protect consumers from unsafe food. FDA's actions have been key to identifying peanut-derived products contaminated with these dangerous bacteria and to companies' removing these products from the market. The current recall of these peanut-derived products is one of the largest and most complex recalls ever involving FDA-regulated products.

        We've worked with the health authorities in Minnesota, Connecticut, Georgia and other states, and with our colleagues at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to trace the source of the Salmonella Typhimurium contamination to a plant operated by the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) in Blakely, Georgia. FDA has inspected the facility and the company has undertaken a voluntary recall that includes all peanut products manufactured by the plant since January 1, 2007. The plant is currently not operating and a criminal investigation is underway.

        The products made by the PCA Blakely, Georgia facility include peanut butter, peanut paste, oil roasted and dry roasted peanuts, granulated peanuts, and peanut meal. This investigation and subsequent recall became so widespread and complicated because some of the company's products were distributed in large containers directly to institutions such as schools and retirement homes, restaurants, others in the food service industry, and private label companies.  Some of the company’s products were also distributed to other manufacturers. These other manufacturers used them as ingredients in a variety of human and animal foods including, in part, crackers, cookies, ice cream, granola bars, and pet treats; the list continues to grow every day. Please note that major national brands of jarred peanut butter found in grocery stores are not affected by the PCA recall.

        FDA investigators and state officials have visited more than 5,500 facilities that purchased PCA’s products or products containing PCA products as an ingredient. We continue to work with companies on recall actions to make sure all potentially contaminated products are taken off the shelves. Companies nationwide that received products from PCA or manufactured products in which they incorporated a PCA product as an ingredient have voluntarily recalled their products. As FDA gathers additional information the number of products recalled is expected to continue to grow. FDA has created a searchable database where consumers can check for the latest recalled products at http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/index.cfm. This list is updated daily and includes both human and pet food products. In addition to the risk of animals contracting salmonellosis, there is a risk to humans from handling these products. It is important for people to wash their hands before and after feeding treats to pets. 

FDA and CDC recommendations for consumers include:

• Consumers are urged to check FDA’s web site to determine which products have been recalled.

• Consumers without internet access can phone 1-888-SAFEFOOD (1-888-723-3366) or 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636). The CDC-INFO line is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

• Any product that is on the recall list should not be eaten and should be thrown out in a safe manner.

• If you are unsure whether a peanut-containing product is potentially contaminated, avoid consuming it or feeding it to your pet until more information is obtained. Consumers may wish to call the 800-number contained on most product packaging or consult the company website. Information consumers may receive from the companies has not been verified by FDA.

• Persons who think they might have become ill from eating peanut butter or products containing peanut butter should consult their health care providers.

• Remember- infants, elderly persons, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely than others to develop severe illness.

Dr. Stephen Sundlof is currently the Director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition,
U.S. Food and Drug Administration [FDA], Department of Health and Human Services.

Social Media Marketing on Salmonella Typhimurium

Jay M. Bernhardt, PhD, MPH, Director of the National Center for Health Marketing at CDC

Everyone knows that health communication and marketing can raise awareness about health issues and promote prevention behaviors. But did you know that health communication and social media marketing plays a critical role in responding to outbreaks? Right now, CDC is participating in a unique, interagency collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use interactive and social media to enhance the response to the recent Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak and its associated recall of peanut butter and peanut-containing products. Many of my colleagues in the National Center for Health Marketing are working closely with scientists and communicators in the National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne, and Enteric Diseases (NCZVED), including people in NCHM's Division of eHealth Marketing and the Emergency Risk Communication Branch in the Division of Health Communication and Marketing.

Even as CDC is using well-established, traditional public health channels to disseminate critical information about the outbreak to health departments and the news media, we also are launching cutting-edge, audience-centered tools to reach the public directly. Some products created for this response include podcasts for adults and children, widgets for web pages and social network profiles, mobile-accessible content at m.cdc.gov, Twitter messaging, promotion through social networks, and outreach to bloggers. CDC's messages also encourage people without internet access to contact CDC-INFO (at 1-800-CDC-INFO or 1-800-232-4636) for information in both English and Spanish.

The products featured here are being promoted to our partners and the public. Please share this critical health information with your colleagues and constituents by participating in the following activities:

Listen to the Podcasts

Salmonella Serotype Typhimurium Outbreak in Peanut Butter and Peanut Butter-Containing Products (English, 3:41) Listen To This Podcast…
This podcast discusses the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak in peanut butter and peanut-containing products. (Created and released 1/21/2009 by NCZVED.)

Brotes infecciosos causados por Salmonella typhimurium en la mantequilla de maní y otros productos que la contienen (Spanish, 3:48) Listen To This Podcast…
Este podcast habla sobre los brotes infecciosos causados por Salmonella typhimurium en la mantequilla de maní y otros productos que la contienen. (Created 1/21/2009 and released 1/23/2009 by NCZVED.)

What Kids Need to Know About Peanut Butter and Salmonella (English, 2:49) Listen To This Podcast…
This podcast explains to children the recent Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak in peanut butter and peanut-containing products. (Created and released 1/26/2009 by NCZVED.)

Embed Widgets on Your Websites and Social Media Pages

Two widgets are available at http://www.cdc.gov/widgets.

• FDA Peanut-Containing Product Recall. This widget allows users to browse the FDA database of recalled peanut butter and peanut-containing products.

• The Salmonella Typhimurium Outbreak Map. This widget displays the number of people by state who have been infected with Salmonella Typhimurium.

Visit and Share the FDA Product Database
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/index.cfm

This database includes human and pet foods recalled by Peanut Corporation of America since January 2009.

Visit the Social Media Collaboration Page
http://www.cdc.gov/socialmedia

This web page is a collection of Salmonella Typhimurium-related products for consumers and partners to use, including blogs, podcasts, websites, etc.

Visit the FDA XML Database
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/PeanutButterProducts2009.xml

This web page includes FDA-provided data about product recalls in Excel, PDF, and XML. The XML format, created specifically for use on other websites, allows other users to incorporate FDA data into their own products and mashups.

Follow on Twitter

Two feeds are available.

• FDA Recalls (http://www.twitter.com/fdarecalls). This feed provides the FDA's recalls, market withdrawals, and safety alerts.

• CDC Emergency (http://twitter.com/CDCemergency). This feed provides updates from CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response about increasing the nation's ability to prepare for and respond to public health emergencies.

Please share these tools and their critical messages broadly. In addition, let us know your thoughts about the health communication and social media marketing tools that we are using to provide critical health information to key affected audiences, also any feedback on how we can continue to improve our strategies.

Thank you.

In his blog, Health Marketing Musings, Dr. Bernhardt writes about a wide range of topics including the research, science, and practice of health marketing, health communication, social marketing, information technology, public health partnerships, and other related subjects.

Dos and Don'ts During the Peanut Salmonella Outbreak: FDAs Dr. Stephen Sundlof

Message from Acting Director of CDC

As I stepped into my new role as Acting Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), important new information was emerging about the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak. CDC epidemiologists, working with state and local health departments, were analyzing the results of telephone interviews of persons who became ill with the outbreak strain.  The study found an association between illness and consumption of pre-packaged peanut butter crackers, including 2 specific name brands. Earlier interviews had identified peanut butter sold to institutions such as schools and nursing homes as associated with illness. You can read the details of the investigation in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report MMWR, dated January 29, 2009.

In my review of the on-going investigation, I’ve been impressed with the extensive collaboration between CDC, state health departments, FDA, and industry, all of whom share a keen interest in protecting people’s  health.  Each organization has a unique role:

• CDC and state and local health departments focus on identifying which foods cause people to become ill.
• FDA investigates the contaminated food products and their source so that measures can be taken to stop consumption of the contaminated food.
• Food manufacturers and distributors determine if they have used ingredients that were contaminated so that they can alert the public about whether to eat their products or not.

But none of this work helps if people don’t get the information they need to make important decisions to protect their health. Because the list of recalled products is still growing, it’s important for everyone to stay informed as the investigation and recalls continue.  That is why CDC is using many new ways to try to reach people – including this blog.  FDA has an on-line searchable database (http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/index.cfm) for people to use to see if products they have in their homes may be on the recall list. CDC has a 24/7 telephone hotline for people to call (1-800-CDC-INFO or 1-800-232-4636). CDC also has extensive information about the outbreak investigation at http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/typhimurium.

CDC and state health departments will continue to investigate potential sources of illness and monitor for additional cases to determine when the outbreak is over.  We’ll also keep communicating with the public about how you can protect yourselves, advise the medical community about how to treat Salmonella infection, and work closely with FDA and industry to prevent similar outbreaks in the future.

CDC and our partners are dedicated to reducing illness from the Salmonella Typhimurium and bringing the outbreak to an end. To achieve that goal, we all need to know what foods should not be eaten. Keep checking the recall list so you can stay healthy.

Richard E. Besser, MD is currently the Acting Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Acting Administrator, Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry