May 6 (UPI) — Minnesota-based Hormel Foods Sales on Friday issued a voluntary recall on two Planters peanut products that are sold in at least five southern states over possible health risks, according to the federal Food and Drug Administration.
The Hormel-owned Planters peanut brand products — possibly contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes — were produced in April then shipped to two different retailers through Publix distribution warehouses in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and North Carolina and Dollar Tree distribution warehouses in South Carolina, and Georgia.
Affected are two specific bags: 4 ounce packages of Honey Roasted Peanuts with a 2900002097 UPC number, and 8.75 ounce cans of Deluxe Lightly Salted Mixed Nuts with the 2900001621 UPC number.
In a statement, the FDA said no other sizes, varieties, or other packaging configurations of Planters brand products are included in this recall, according to the FDA. And consumers were advised to discard the product or return to the store where purchased for a refund.
Nearly 3% of adults in the United States — or 4.5 million people — are allergic to peanuts, according to a study by the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
The FDA says Listeria monocytogenes, which can can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women, “is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.”
Healthy individuals “may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea.”
The recall was initiated with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and, as of Friday, “there have been no reports of illness related to this recall to date, and all retailers that received the affected product have been properly notified.”
Chicago-based Kraft Heinz announced in Feb. 2021 that it was selling its Planters nuts business to the Minnesota-based Hormel Foods Corporation in a $3.35 billion cash sale. The acquisition included production facilities located in California, Arkansas and Virginia.
Hormel at the time had said the Planters portfolio net sales were about $1 billion in the calendar year 2020 which they expected to only increase.
In May 2018, Hormel recalled over 228,000 pounds of canned pork, chicken Spam and luncheon loaf products that were believed to have been contaminated with pieces of metal.
A full investigation is underway to determine the potential source of the recent peanut contamination, the FDA says.