Junk Food/Peanut Butter Warning

No more excuses about avoiding spinach, tomatoes and other veggies for Salmonella risk. Unless you plan to skip the junk food, too.

January 18, 2009 -- McKee Foods Corporation today announced a voluntary recall of two varieties of peanut butter sandwich crackers because the products have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

Specifically, consumers need to avoid cookies, crackers, ice cream, and the like; anything made with peanut butter.

So far, more than 470 people in 43 states have gotten ill, and at least 90 had to be hospitalized. At least six deaths are being attributed to the outbreak.

Full list of foods

Personally, I can accept e. coli on spinach and veggies more than I can on junk food anyway. Seeing as though e. coli on veggies may be from animals and e. coli from processed junk foods may come during processing by humans.

Salmonella is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis. For more information on Salmonella, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Website at http://www.cdc.gov.