Salmonella Concerns Prompts Trader Joe’s To Recall Peanut Butter

Trader Joe’s corporate officials say they are acting “out of an abundance of caution” and ordering the recall of one type of its house brand peanut butter over salmonella concerns.

“Trader Joe’s Creamy Salted Valencia Peanut Butter” should not be eaten, the Monrovia-based specialty grocery chain said.

“We have no confirmed information that suggests this peanut butter is unsafe to eat,” the company stated. But the food should not be eaten “pending health-related inquiries.”

Trader Joe’s has at least five stores in the lower Fairfield and Westchester County area -- including Fairfield, Darien and Westport; Scarsdale, Hartsdale and Larchmont in New York.

The Food and Drug Administration posted the company’s voluntary recall on its web site, but did not comment on the company’s statement.

The potential salmonella contamination could cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, the elderly or others with compromised immune systems. Healthy persons who get infected with salmonella experience fever, abdominal pain, vomiting and a most unpleasant distress of the lower
intestinal system.

Trader Joe’s is offering refunds.

—City News Service and local editor Barbara Heins contributed to this report.