The nationwide peanut recall has campus officials closely monitoring daily FDA updates for products in use at the University.
The salmonella outbreak has poisoned at least 550 people and potentially killed eight. Eleven cases of illness have occurred in Oregon, including one in Lane County.
Keeping the campus community safe has been an effective operation, said University Environmental Health and Safety Director Kay Coots, who subscribes to the FDA’s daily digest on food recalls and notifies campus employees who might be affected by the information.
“The great thing we’ve got going here is our food services here, who respond promptly,” Coots said. “All the credit goes to them.”
Popular recalled items
| – | Select varieties of snack bars by Clif Bar, Special K, Odwalla, Slim-Fast, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods |
| – | Select varieties of ice cream by Breyers, Hershey’s, Nestle, Private Selection, Umpqua Dairy, Western Family |
| – | Select varieties of crackers by Keebler, Little Debbie |
| – | Select products by Barefoot Contessa, Best Choice, Fred Meyer, Kroger |
| – | For a complete list of recalled items, go to http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/Salmonellatyph.html |
The FDA reports that major national brands of peanut butter are not affected by the outbreak, but “boutique” brands manufactured by smaller companies might contain contaminated peanuts.
Ron Schrodt, a chef for University Catering, said the University’s menu rarely includes peanuts or peanut butter, so cooks “haven’t run into an issue at all.”
Trail mixes, nutrition bars and peanuts sold in bulk have been primarily affected by the recall, but many other products including processed cookies, crackers, candy, ice cream and other snack foods have been recalled.
The Grab n’ Go in the Hamilton residence hall carries several products that appeared on FDA recall lists, said Tom Driscoll, director of food services. The products have been pulled from the shelves.
The Vivian Olum Child Development Center, which provides child care for faculty members’ children, doesn’t serve meals but serves morning and afternoon snacks. Director Carol Snead said the Olum Center uses organic peanut butter from Costco in some snacks and upon hearing of the recall, she immediately contacted Costco product safety officials, who verified that the peanuts used in their products were from plants in Texas and New Mexico not affected by the recall.
The UO Moss Street Children’s Center, which provides child care for the children of students, faculty and the community, serves meals but doesn’t serve any peanut products.
“Lots of kids have peanut allergies, so many have allergies that we don’t serve peanut butter or peanut products at all,” said Peggy Veltman, assistant child care director of the UO Moss Street Children’s Center.
GloryBee Foods Inc. in Eugene has recalled nine of its products for potentially contaminated peanuts purchased from Peanut Corporation of America, one of the processing plants found to be contaminated.
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