MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, CALIF. -- The March ARB commissary will accept returns of peanut butter products purchased there if customers have concerns about the recall, according to Phil Ruiz, store manager.
"Any customers having any kind of peanut butter product that they're not comfortable with, we will give them a refund if they bring it back to the store, regardless of when they bought it," said Ruiz. "If someone doesn't feel good about the product, bring it in, and we'll give them their money back."
The commissary pulled several peanut paste and peanut butter-based products from its shelves after receiving notices from companies saying the FDA found some products were contaminated with Salmonella.
As of last Tuesday, the FDA said it confirmed that 501 people in 43 states have been infected with Salmonella Typhimurium since the outbreak in early January. About 22 percent were hospitalized, and the infection may have contributed to eight deaths, according to the FDA.
The source of the contamination was peanut butter and peanut paste produced by George-based Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), who distributed their products to 70 consignee firms. Those firms used the ingredients in hundreds of products such as crackers, cereal, candy, cookies and ice cream.
"There's no fresh peanut butter involved in any of these recalls," said Ruiz. "It is peanut butter food products."
Ruiz said as soon as the commissary gets a recall notice, it immediately pulls the product.
"At the store level, we receive e-mails or notices and we immediately take action on it," he said. "We go out into the store, remove them, and put the company's explanation in the empty space out there as to what they're doing."
As products are deemed safe, Ruiz said the commissary will get further notices saying it's OK to put the item back on the shelves.
"But until we get that," he said, "they stay back in the warehouse in a designated location."
For more information, including updates and a full list of products believed to be contaminated, visit the FDA's Web site at
www.fda.gov or
www.cdc.gov/socialmedia/website_graphics.html