WASHINGTON — The company that sells Little Debbie snacks announced a recall Sunday of peanut-butter crackers because of a potential link to a deadly salmonella outbreak.
The voluntary recall came one day after the government advised consumers to avoid eating cookies, cake, ice cream and other foods with peanut butter until health officials learn more about the contamination.
The announcement by McKee Foods Corp. of Collegedale, Tenn., about two kinds of Little Debbie products was another in a string of voluntary recalls following the most recent guidance by health officials.
Officials are focusing on peanut paste, as well as peanut butter, produced at Peanut Corp.’s Georgia facility. Its peanut butter is not sold directly to consumers but distributed to institutions and food companies.
But the peanut paste, made from roasted peanuts, is an ingredient in cookies, cake and other products that people buy in the supermarket.
So far, more than 470 people have gotten sick in 43 states, including Washington state, and at least 90 had to be hospitalized. At least six deaths are being blamed on the outbreak. Salmonella is a bacteria and the most common source of food poisoning in the U.S., causing diarrhea, cramping and fever.
Most peanut butter sold in jars at supermarkets appears to be safe, the Food and Drug Administration said Saturday.
N.Y.: New York leads in job losses
Few metropolitan areas in the U.S. will escape job losses this year, according to a forecast released Saturday by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The New York area is expected to lose 181,000 jobs in 2009, the report said. The Los Angeles area is expected to see 164,000 lost jobs, Miami is expected to lose 85,000 jobs, and Chicago and the surrounding area has job losses projected at 80,000. Ithaca, N.Y.; Fairbanks, Alaska; and St. George, Utah, are among the handful of the nation’s 363 metropolitan areas expected to see employment remain flat or increase slightly.
Michigan: Dad told to pay for child’s birth or marry the mother
The state of Michigan is giving a Flint father a choice: pay the medical cost of his daughter’s birth or marry the girl’s mother. Gary Johnson was billed $3,800 for the birth of his daughter JaeLyn, The Flint Journal reported Sunday. Johnson is not married to the child’s mother, Rebecca Witt. The Michigan Legislature amended the state’s paternity act five years ago to waive birthing costs for a father if he married the child’s mother. A year later, Witt gave birth to JaeLyn. The state paid for the hospital costs because Witt was on Medicaid at the time, and the state now trying to recover the money. Johnson and Witt said they want to marry eventually, but Witt said she wants her marriage date to be her choice.
Brazil: Church roof collapses
The roof of a Sao Paulo church caved in shortly after a religious service on Sunday, killing 7 people and injuring at least 57. The cause of the collapse of Reborn in Christ church was not immediately clear, and authorities were investigating. Church spokeswoman Marli Goncalves said the building was up to code. The church, which can hold 2,000 worshippers and is usually crowded on Sundays, was relatively empty at the time of the collapse because it happened between two services, according to Goncalves.
Russia: Deal for gas via Ukraine
The prime ministers of Russia and Ukraine were expected to sign a deal today that would restore natural gas flow to shivering swaths of Europe, where factories have closed and customers have gone without heat while the two former Soviet allies bickered. But it wasn’t clear when gas exports to Europe would resume. It could take at least a day for pressure to build in the pipelines and gas to reach Europe once the flow is restored. The European Union gets about one-fifth of its gas from pipelines that cross Ukraine.
South Africa: Miners out safe
About 167 workers trapped in the Blyvooruitzicht gold mine for more than 24 hours were safely brought to the surface late Sunday, the South African Press Association reported. A mine spokesman said there were no injuries. The workers, mainly maintenance staff, were trapped when lightning struck an electrical substation late Saturday and caused a complete power blackout. Electricity supplies were re-established Sunday and engineers managed to connect the power to the underground winders and lifts.
From Herald news services
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