Peanut butter in a big jam

Investigators are trying to determine how salmonella may have gotten into one of America's favorite foods

By BRYON OKADA

STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

Peanut butter is wholesome. You can depend on it. PB&J sandwiches are our friends.

But with some folks getting salmonella poisoning, ConAgra Foods -- the maker of Peter Pan and some Great Value peanut butter -- announced the "precautionary measure" of recalling jars whose product code begins with 2111.

Joycie Dotson, 80, of Benbrook said she'd never seen her husband, W.M., as sick as he was three weeks ago.

"I wasn't paying attention to what he was eating, and he got sick and he could not get away from the bathroom," Dotson said. It got so bad, it reminded her of a Thanksgiving trip one year when they ate cold turkey out of an ice chest and got salmonella poisoning.

On Thursday morning, she checked the family jar of peanut butter. It had the magic number.

Could this be the cause of W.M.'s illness?

Dotson says they won't be eating any more of it, just in case it was.

OFF THE SHELVES

Employees at many local supermarkets hurried to pull Peter Pan products from their shelves Thursday. Albertsons stores removed suspect jars first thing in the morning, spokeswoman Jennifer Vroman said. Albertsons customers who have the recalled peanut butter at home can return it to the store for a refund, even without a receipt, she said. At Kroger stores, workers removed all Peter Pan peanut butter. At one local Wal-Mart, employees filled five shopping carts with Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter to remove, a manager said.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Check the lid of Peter Pan or Great Value peanut butter for a product code that begins with 2111. If it has that number, discard the peanut-butter jar, but save the lid if you want a refund. Great Value is a Wal-Mart brand.

REFUNDS

To get a refund, consumers should send lids and their names and addresses to ConAgra Foods, P.O. Box 3768, Omaha, NE 68103. For more information, call 866-344-6970.