Grocery store Trader Joe's peanut butter is the subject of the latest salmonella recall after jars of it were linked to 29 illnesses across the country, the Huffington Post reports.
The grocery chain sells a variety of peanut spreads, but the one at the center of this recall is labeled, "Valencia Creamy Salted Peanut Butter made with Sea Salt." It has a Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) identifier of 97111, the Food and Drug Administration reports.
This particular peanut butter is sold nationwide, and those who have so far fallen ill from it are mostly children.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), alerted Trader Joe's earlier this week that its peanut butter had been linked to a salmonella bredeney outbreak, according to the FDA. As a result, the company agreed to remove the product from all of its store shelves.
Agency officials are also encouraging consumers to check their home shelves for the recalled product, and if found, they're urged to either throw it out, or return any remaining portion of it to Trader Joe's for a full refund.
Salmonella causes a variety of flu-like symptoms in those who become sickened by it, but it's most dangerous for children and those with compromised immune systems.
Further clues as to how the peanut butter became infected with the bacteria are not yet available as the FDA's investigation remains ongoing.
If you would like tips on how to lower your chances of encountering salmonella in the food you eat, visit the CDC’s Salmonella-Prevention Page.
In light of the salmonella outbreaks over the past season, are there any foods you're steering clear of? Let us know in the Comments.
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A Bay Area native, Andri Antoniades previously worked as a fashion industry journalist and medical writer. In addition to reporting the weekend news on TakePart, she volunteers as a web editor for locally-based nonprofits and works as a freelance feature writer for TimeOutLA.com. Email Andri | @andritweets | TakePart.com