Some Jif peanut butter products recalled — check your lot codes

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A popular lunch or snack food that often shows up in children’s lunch boxes is being recalled. The J. M. Smucker Co. is recalling select Jif peanut butter products sold in the U.S. due to potential Salmonella contamination.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local partners, are investigating the multistate outbreak. The CD) review of epidemiological information indicates that five out of five people reported consuming peanut butter and four of the five people specifically reported consuming different varieties of Jif brand peanut butter prior to becoming ill.

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.

The recalled peanut butter was distributed nationwide in retail stores and other outlets. Recalled products include the products with lot codes 1274425 – 2140425. Lot codes are included alongside best-if-used-by date.

If consumers have products matching the above description in their possession, they should dispose of it immediately.

Consumers who have questions or would like to report adverse reactions should visit www.jif.com/contact-usExternal Link Disclaimer or call 800-828-9980 Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM ET.

The F.D.A. said salmonella cases connected to the peanut butter had been reported in a dozen states as of Sunday. Two people had been hospitalized, it said.

The agency said that epidemiologic evidence indicated that Jif brand peanut butter produced at the Smucker Company facility in Lexington, Ky., was “the likely cause of illnesses in this outbreak.”

 The recall is being conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

(Sources: The J. M. Smucker Co & AP)