Keebler Cookies, Special K Recall Join Food Recall List

The Keebler elves and Special K may have gotten some rotten peanut butter, and as a result the FDA is alerting consumers of the latest food recall news to be added to the exponentially growing peanut butter recall list.

Special K Recall

The Special K recall pertains - thus far - only to the Special K protein bars of the honey almond variety. The UPC codes of the products affected by this food recall are 3800039778, 3800039931, and 3800039935. If you have these Special K bars, dispose of them and call 877-869-5633 to get a refund.

Keebler Cookie Food Recall

If you have Keebler oatmeal raisin cookies or home-style chocolate chunk cookies, and if they are of the 2.5 ounce variety, check to make sure they do not have the 3010032708 or 3010037899 UPC codes. If they do, get rid of them and call 877-869-5633 to register your claim for a refund.

No Ties to Peanut Corporation of America

It is interesting to note that this food recall now involves products that were not made at the Peanut Corporation of America plant. Moreover, neither these Special K bars nor these Keebler cookies are said to contain any peanut butter from the disgraced manufacturer; however, these products were made at a plant that used potentially salmonella contaminated peanut butter from the Peanut Corporation of America for other products. This opens up the potential for involuntary cross contamination.

Peanut Corporation of America's Reaction Tepid?

It is curious to take a look at the January 31^st media statement put out by the Peanut Corporation of America, the company at the heart of one of the most far reaching food recalls in recent history. I grant you, the odds are good that the lawyers have told the company to button its lips, but to call the association between the salmonella outbreaks and the tainted peanut butter traced back to the company merely possible is a bit of a euphemistic misnomer.

Then again, the fact that attorneys are digging through the issues, is most telling indeed. After all, at this point the company's continued existence is in jeopardy.

Remember the Topps Meat Company Recall?

Truth be told, it is hard to fault the Peanut Corporation of America for buttoning their lips and lawyering up. After all, if the Topps Meat Company recall serves as a warning specter, the Peanut Corporation may be on the verge of going out of business.

The New Jersey News reported on the plight of Topps back in 2007, when the company that was in business for 67 years became tainted by a 21.7 million pound beef recall because of E. coli contamination. Forced to recall about a year's worth of product simply because documentation could not prove that the meat might not be involved in the E. coli outbreak, the company was unable to fiscally recover.

Is Peanut Corporation of America next? Would you trust food made at that plant again?

Sources

http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/kellogg02_09.html; http://www.peanutcorp.com/pdf/Statement%20by%20PCA%201-31-09.pdf; http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2007/10/topps_meat_co_folds_after_mass.html