News Moms Need

Smucker’s® is recalling its Natural Peanut Butter Chunky because it may have Salmonella, bacteria that cause salmonellosis infection. People with salmonellosis can get sick and may have diarrhea, fever, vomiting and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection.

The recall is for Smucker’s® Natural Peanut Butter Chunky with the following details:

• Purchased between November 8 - 17, 2011
• UPC 5150001701 (located on the side of the jar’s label below the bar code)
• Production Codes 1307004 and 1308004
• Best-If-Used-By dates August 3, 2012 and August 4, 2012
• Chunky product only (not creamy)

In most healthy adults, symptoms can last for days. But pregnant women, babies and others with weakened immune systems can sometimes become seriously ill from Salmonella infection.  Occasionally, a pregnant woman can pass a Salmonella infection on to her baby. After birth, her baby can get diarrhea, fever and, less frequently, meningitis after birth. Meningitis is an infection of the membranes surrounding the brain.

Visit the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) website for more information on the peanut butter recall.

You may have heard recent news about cantaloupes being recalled because they may be linked to listeriosis, a kind of food poisoning. The cantaloupes are Rocky Ford cantaloupes and were shipped nationwide by Jensen Farms.

Listeriosis is a serious infection caused by bacteria called listeria. Listeriosis most often happens from being in contact with foods that have listeria. While anyone can get listeriosis, pregnant women are about 20 times more likely than other healthy adults to get listeriosis. In fact, about 1 in 6 cases of listeriosis happens during pregnancy.

Listeriosis is very harmful to women during pregnancy. A pregnant woman who gets listeriosis is at risk for miscarriage, premature birth and stillbirth. Listeriosis is also very harmful, even deadly, to newborn babies. Older adults and people with weakened immune systems are at increased risk of listeriosis, too.
 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises everyone not to eat Rocky Ford cantaloupes shipped by Jensen Farms. While most grocery stores have removed the cantaloupes from their shelves, some people may still have them in their homes. At least 18 states have reported cases of listeriosis from cantaloupes, including California, Montana, Kansas, Florida and Maryland.

To learn more about the recalled cantaloupes, visit the CDC website.

There is so much to pay attention to these days regarding food that sometimes you can feel spooked about putting anything in your mouth.  This stuff is “good,” that’s “bad,” even though it was good yesterday…  Try not to go crazy and remember the old adage, “everything in moderation.”

Still, it is important to watch what you eat because not all foods are safe for pregnant women. Some contain high levels of chemicals that can affect your baby’s development. Others put you at risk for getting an infection that can hurt your baby.  Here are some tips:

 
• Avoid swordfish, shark, king mackerel and tile fish. These fish can contain potentially risky levels of mercury. The same for raw fish, especially shellfish (oysters, clams)
• Cook all meat, poultry and seafood thoroughly to kill bacteria. 
• Cook all eggs well and avoid soft-scrambled eggs and all foods made with raw or lightly cooked eggs (does that Caesar salad dressing have raw egg in it?)
• Avoid soft cheeses made with unpasteurized milk. Examples are Brie, feta, Camembert, Roquefort, blue-veined, queso blanco, queso fresco and Panela. Check the label to see what kind of milk was used to make the cheese. 
• All milk and any foods made from it should be pasteurized. So should juices.
• Raw vegetable sprouts, including alfalfa, clover, radish and mung bean might be sources of salmonella, so don’t eat them.

Two companies have recently recalled food products. Parkers Farm, a food company in Minnesota, has recalled several products because of possible contamination with Listeria. This bacteria can cause a type of food poisoning that can be especially dangerous for pregnant women and small children.

The recalled products include peanut butter, bagel spreads, dips, cheese and salsa. They are sold under the brand name Parkers Farm and other brand names, incuding Kroger, Dutch Farms and Central Market.

For a list of all the products in this recall, visit the Web site of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Nurture, Inc., has recalled some Happytot and Happybaby meal pouches. The packaging is defective and could lead to contamination with bacteria. For a list of all the recalled products, visit the FDA Web site.