By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Variety News Staff

WHILE scientists struggled to pinpoint the source of the first U.S. salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter, the Department of Public Health and Social Services advises Guam consumers to throw away their jars of Peter Pan peanut butter brand, which was recalled by its manufacturer last week due to risk of bacterium contamination.
DPHSS’ Division of Environmental Health determined that Luen Fung Enterprises is the main distributor of Peter Pan peanut butter on Guam, but other retailers are believed to have purchased the product from other distributors.
“Both DEH and Luen Fung Enterprises are working closely together to ensure that all affected peanut butter products are removed from the shelves,” the local health department stated in a press release.
The suspect peanut butter was produced by ConAgra at its only peanut butter plant, in Sylvester, Ga., according to the Food and Drug Administration.
The FDA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that since August last year, nearly 300 people in 39 states have fallen ill after consuming Peter Pan peanut butter, which was found to contain bacterium called Salmonella Tennesse.
Salmonella causes food-borne diseases with symptoms that include fever, diarrhea, abdominal cramps and weakened immune systems.
According to an AP report, the highest number of cases was reported in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee and Missouri. About 20 percent of the victims were hospitalized, but there were no deaths reported.
“About 85 percent of the infected people said they ate peanut butter, and about a quarter of them ate it at least once a day,” stated the AP article, quoting CDC.
According to an AP report, ConAgra had yet to determine how many jars are affected by the recall.