Alexandria, VA (August 20, 2014) – The American Peanut Council (APC) is closely monitoring the nSpired Natural Foods Inc.’s voluntary recall of certain retail lots of Arrowhead Mills® Peanut Butters, MaraNatha® Almond Butters and Peanut Butters and specific private label nut butters because of possible contamination with Salmonella, as indicated in its news release. nSpired is working closely with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), and the APC has every confidence that the company is doing its utmost to carry out the recall in the most effective and efficient manner possible.
A complete list of affected products can be found in the company’s August 19, 2014 news release, which is posted on the FDA website at
http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/default.htm
“We are very concerned that anyone may have become ill from eating nut products, and wish anyone affected a speedy recovery. Public health and food safety are the U.S. peanut industry’s highest priorities, and that is why we work closely with manufacturers and regulators to advocate and strive for the safest peanut supply chain in the world. While there is no such thing as zero risk, that is exactly what we strive for,” said Patrick Archer, president of the American Peanut Council
The American peanut industry fully supports federal and industry guidance documents and recommendations regarding the testing and prevention of
Salmonella, including how to prevent Salmonella when manufacturing low-moisture foods.
Here are some of the industry’s food safety actions:
• Strengthened and updated the industry’s Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) to reflect our most current scientific knowledge.
• Commissioned scientific studies to better understand how to eliminate contaminants.
• Completed and published a baseline pathogen prevalence assessment in order to better understand risk (Journal for Food Production )
• Conducted and published a kill-step study to better understand pathogen resilience ( Peanut Science)
• Designed a special Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP)-accredited food safety course for peanut processors in partnership with the University of Georgia’s Food Science Department.
• Collaborated with FDA to provide food safety education and training to industry members
The American Peanut Council is open to input from growers, shellers, manufacturers, regulators, food scientists and consumers on how we can continue to maintain the highest food safety standards in the world. The council also strongly supports the increase in federal food safety oversight provided for in the Food Safety Modernization Act, and we will continue to work with FDA, health officials, academia and industry experts to further develop the industry’s food safety tools.