Salmonella strain found at Ga. plant

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON - Federal inspectors have found evidence that the Georgia factory that supplied tainted peanut butter was the source of the salmonella that sickened hundreds.

Testing showed salmonella found at the plant was the same strain behind a recent food-poisoning outbreak, the Food and Drug Administration said Thursday.

Beyond the Sylvester, Ga., plant, the strain also has been isolated from open jars of the company's peanut butter and some of the 370 people who have fallen ill in the outbreak, the FDA said.

ConAgra on Feb. 14 recalled all Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter made at the Georgia plant after federal health officials linked the product to an outbreak that began in August. The recall now includes all such products made since December 2005, the FDA said.

"The fact that FDA found salmonella in the plant environment further suggests that the contamination likely took place prior to the product reaching consumers," the agency said in a statement.

On Thursday, the FDA said the company had sent bulk Peter Pan peanut butter to its plant in Humboldt, Tenn. There, it was incorporated into various ice cream, sundae and shake toppings. Health officials warned the public to discard the products, which have been recalled.

The products are:

Sonic Brand Ready-To-Use Peanut Butter Topping in 6 lb., 10.5 oz cans. Sonic outlets used the topping until Feb. 16, when the product was recalled. The topping was used in Sonic's peanut-butter shakes, peanut-butter fudge shakes, peanut-butter sundaes and peanut-butter fudge sundaes, the FDA said.

Carvel Peanut Butter Topping in 6 lb., 10 oz. cans. Carvel also used the topping until Feb. 16, when it, too, was recalled. The topping was used in Carvel's Chocolate Peanut Butter, Peanut Butter Treasure, Peanut Butter & Jelly and Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Sundae Dasher ice-cream products, the FDA said. The topping also was used in customized products, like the peanut butter-flavored ice cream in Carvel's ice-cream cakes, the agency said.

J. Hungerford Smith Peanut Butter Dessert Topping in 6 lb., 10 oz. cans. The topping is used by retail outlets and restaurants nationwide but is not for sale to the public.