KUALA LUMPUR (AFP)–Malaysia’s health ministry Thursday said it was investigating the Famous Amos cookie chain after it withdrew dough from several of its outlets amid fears it was contaminated by the salmonella bacterium.
The action followed an outbreak of salmonella poisoning in the U.S., which has made at least 474 people sick since September as a result of infected peanut- butter and peanut-paste dough, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, Web site.
The health ministry said it had started a probe into Famous Amos, a unit of Kellogg Co. (K), based on information it received that the infected dough had been exported to Malaysia for the company’s use.
“The health ministry has investigated and found the company is indeed using the dough, which contains peanut butter and peanut paste, which is imported from the Peanut Corporation of America,” it said in a statement.
“The company has withdrawn the dough, which is sold at three of its premises,” it added.
Famous Amos company representatives said the company did use peanut butter in cookies in Malaysia but that all its cookies were safe for consumption.
“There is only one dough (suspected of being contaminated with salmonella), called premium choice, which we had carried and (which was only) available in limited locations,” the company’s general manager Jesrina Liew said.
“The batch, which they suspected of contamination, is still in our inventory and has not been distributed yet. (The premium choice cookies) we have recalled were from an earlier batch of dough and had not been contaminated,” she added.
The salmonella bacterium is spread most often by the consumption of food contaminated by animal fecal matter, according to health experts.
The microbe usually flourishes within the intestinal tracts of fowl and mammals.
An estimated 1.4 million human salmonella infections occur each year, causing about 15,000 hospitalizations and 400 deaths, according to the CDC.
SOURCE: CNN.COM
Salmonella, a bacterium often found in undercooked meats and raw eggs, can also be found in other foods as well. The latest outbreak, which has been responsible for over 400 cases in 42 states since the fall of 2008, is the result of peanut butter. On Saturday January 11th, King Nut Companies of Solon, Ohio recalled all brands of peanut butter distributed under the company’s name after it was discovered the day before by Minnesota health officials that salmonella was present in a five-pound open container of creamy King Nut peanut butter that company distributes to hospitals and schools. Their products are not sold directly to consumers and business clients have been asked to take all King Nut peanut butter and Parnell’s Pride peanut butter distributed by King Nut out of distribution immediately