Any reason why it took 8 months to be told that my peanut butter was poisonous?

Question

Anybody else caught in the same predicament?

Yes we had the famous 2111 of Peter Pan and coincidentally we would get sick every now and then when we has peanut butter (I never put the 2 together since I would have peanut butter once every 2 weeks or so.

Answer 1

Because salmonella infections happen all the time. It takes a long time to link them together. These types of things have probably been very common in the past, but we didn't have the ability to track them.

Things have changed now. Many public health departments participate in a program to find outbreaks. Salmonella specimens are genetically fingerprinted, sort of like how they do DNA tests for bad guys on TV. The results are sent to the CDC, and computer programs look for similar patterns. When they find related salmonella, especially if it's in different parts of the country, they know that is has come from the same source. The same is true for E coli HO157, and shigella.

Now, they have to go interview people and figure out what foods they might have in common. As you can imagine, they have to rule a lot of things out. This process takes some time. Before they go ruining a products reputation, they make sure they're certain.

If this had happened 10 years ago, it's likely they never would have figured it out.

Answer 2

Apparently the 2111 Peter Pan PB isn't ALL contaminated. We had a jar at work and just noticed Friday the code on top 2111. No one got sick. Neighbor had a jar and has been making sandwiches for weeks. No one got sick.
We use JIF in the BIG CAN. (no kids, just me, my wife and dog eat it.)

Answer 3

I have a jar of that peanut butter and it is half gone. No one in my house has gotten sick from it.

Answer 4

your peanut butter has the same lot number?

Answer 5

i f i were u id sue there asses off