Trader Joe's Expands Recall To More Products

Trader Joe’s corporate officials say they are acting “out of an abundance of caution” and ordering the recall of several house brand nut butter products over salmonella concerns.

“Trader Joe’s Creamy Salted Valencia Peanut Butter” should not be eaten, the Monrovia-based specialty grocery chain said.

“We have no confirmed information that suggests this peanut butter is unsafe to eat,” the company stated. But the food should not be eaten “pending health-related inquiries.”

Shortly after the peanut butter recall, the company decided to recall cashew butter, tahini and roasted blanched peanut products, all of which are manufactured at the same Sunland, Inc. plant in New Mexico, CNN reports. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 30 people have been infected with Salmonella Bredeney in 19 states, one of whom was from Illinois. Four people have been hospitalized though no deaths have been reported.

Although Salmonella has not been found in the Trader Joe's peanut butter, 12 of the people diagnosed with the bacteria reported eating the product, USA Today reports. 

"Please return the product to your supermarket for a full refund or dispose of it," Sunland President and CEO Jimmie Shearer said in a news release that includes the complete list of more than 100 recalled products.

The Park Ridge,  Glenview and Northbrook locations are offering refunds for recalled products. 

The Food and Drug Administration posted the company’s voluntary recall on its web site, but did not comment on the company’s statement.

The potential salmonella contamination could cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, the elderly or others with compromised immune systems. Healthy persons who get infected with salmonella experience fever, abdominal pain, vomiting and a most unpleasant distress of the lower
intestinal system.

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