Peanut butter recall expands again. Now included: peanuts

A massive peanut butter recall affecting hundreds of peanut butter products and other nut spreads has been expanded yet again. Now included are packages of raw and roasted shelled and in-shell peanuts that may be contaminated with salmonella.

Sunland, Inc., the Portales, New Mexico-based food manufacturer and distributor pegged as the initial source of the problem, has expanded its recall to 71 more products that came from its peanuts processing plant. Affected brands include Sunland, Natural Value, Valencia, The Nut Shop, and Treasured Harvest. The recalled packages “are within their current shelf life or had no expiration date,” according to Sunland, Inc.’s press release on the Food and Drug Administration’s recalls website.

The peanuts join the long list of Sunland products implicated in the recall, which started late last month with a specific brand of peanut butter sold at Trader Joe’s and quickly expanded to include over 100 items sold at several national grocery chains, including Whole Foods and Stop and Shop, as the Monitor previously reported. So far, 35 people in 19 states have been sickened in the salmonella outbreak linked to the recall, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Eight people have been hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported.

“The raw and roasted peanuts available to retail customers were distributed primarily under the Company’s own label ... primarily to produce houses and nationally to numerous large retail chains,” Sunland’s statement read. “The products also were available for purchase on the internet. The roasted and roasted/salted peanuts being recalled were distributed during the six month period prior to the recall date (April 12, 2012 – October 12, 2012), and will have best by/expiration dates on the packaging from October 12, 2012 through April 12, 2013. The raw peanuts being recalled (shelled and in-shell), were distributed during the twelve months prior to the recall date (October 12, 2011 – October 12, 2012), and will have either best by dates from October 12, 2012 through October 12, 2013 on the packaging, or a “Crop Year” marking on the package of 2011 or 2012, up to and including October 12, 2012.”

Previously, all of Sunland’s recalled products had come from the same building at the company’s Portales manufacturing facility. But the raw and roasted peanuts raise further concerns because they are manufactured in a separate building. Both the Peanut Processing Plant and the Peanut Butter Plant have been shut down and are being investigated by the FDA.

Customers with recalled products should throw them away or return them for a full refund. Those seeking further information can call Sunland 24 hours a day at 1-866-837-1018.

A full list of recalled products can be found on the FDA’s website, here. For further information on the salmonella outbreak, visit the Centers for Disease Control, here.