Contaminated Peanut Butter Sent to Schools, Food Banks

Cases of recalled Sunland, Inc. peanut butter distributed to school districts and food banks in California will be destroyed, state education officials said late Friday.

About 2,072 cases of Sunland, Inc. peanut butter affected by the recall were sent to 320 school districts throughout the state, said Tina Jung, a spokesperson for the California Department of Education.

Another 23,040 cases were shipped to six California food banks.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration put the product on hold Oct. 5 while it investigated the product for potential Salmonella contamination.

"The peanut butter has been held at school sites, food banks, manufacturers, and distribution centers awaiting instructions from federal officials," Jung said.

There are no cases reported of California students being affected by the product, she said.

The peanut butter was purchased by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the National School Lunch and Commodity Supplemental Food Programs, according to the news release.

Any quantities of Sunland, Inc. peanut butter received form CDE Distribution Centers, commercial manufacturers or Commodity Supplemental Food Program agencies have been ordered to be destroyed, Jung said.

"Agencies were advised today to take an inventory of all recalled Sunland, Inc. peanut butter and destroy it," Jung said.

"Individual school districts that sent the recalled peanut butter to food processors for later use should notify the processor to destroy their product," Jung said. "Individual school districts that purchased the peanut butter products commercially are responsible for its destruction."

Patch checked with the Murrieta Valley Unified School District about whether it may have been sent the recalled peanut butter.

"We received the recall notice yesterday," said Karen Parris, spokesperson for the Murrieta Valley Unified School District. "As of last week we put a hold on serving peanut butter. We are still in the process of checking inventory at all school sites to determine if we have the recalled products on our shelves."

For more information on the recall, visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration website.

Additional information can be found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.