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Peanut Butter Recall

Ask Betty

Peanut Butter Recall

Q: Are any of your products affected by the peanut butter recall?

A: General Mills announced on February 13, 2009, a voluntary recall of three flavors of Cascadian Farm snack bars containing peanuts because the products may have been sourced from the Plainview, Texas plant of Peanut Corporation of America. The snack bars being recalled are: Cascadian Farm Peanut Butter Chip Chewy Granola Bars, Cascadian Farm Sweet & Salty Mixed Nut Chewy Granola Bars, and Cascadian Farm Sweet & Salty Peanut Pretzel Chewy Granola Bars. On January 19, 2009, General Mills announced a recall of Larabar Peanut Butter Cookie bars and JamFrakas Peanut Butter Blisscrisp bars because the products contained ingredients sourced from the same company.

Q: Which Cascadian Farms products are being recalled?

A: General Mills announced on February 13, 2009 a voluntary recall of three flavors of Cascadian Farm snack bars containing peanuts: Cascadian Farm Peanut Butter Chip Chewy Granola Bars, Cascadian Farm Sweet & Salty Mixed Nut Chewy Granola Bars, and Cascadian Farm Sweet & Salty Peanut Pretzel Chewy Granola Bars.

The company said it has no reason to believe there is any safety issue with these products, but that it is taking the action, as a precaution, because peanut pieces in the products may have been sourced from the Plainview, Texas plant of Peanut Corporation of America.

PCA is no longer a supplier to Cascadian Farm, and no other types, varieties or flavors of Cascadian Farm products are being recalled.

The specific products in this recall include:

Cascadian Farm products are sold in traditional and specialty retail stores. Consumers who have products covered by this recall are urged to dispose of the product, and to contact Cascadian Farm for a full refund. Consumers with questions or concerns about the recall may call the toll-free hotline at 1-800-624-4123.

In addition to this recall, on January 19, 2009 General Mills announced a recall of Larabar Peanut Butter Cookie bars and JamFrakas Peanut Butter Blisscrisp bars because the products contained ingredients sourced from the same company. No other General Mills products utilize any ingredients purchased from Peanut Corporation of America.

Q: Which LÄRABAR & JAMFRAKAS products are being recalled?

A: On January 19, General Mills announced a recall of Larabar Peanut Butter Cookie bars and JamFrakas Peanut Butter Blisscrisp bars because the products contained ingredients sourced from the same company. No illnesses have been reported in connection with LÄRABAR or JamFrakas products, and no other types, varieties or flavors of LÄRABAR or JamFrakas products are being recalled.

Peanut butter produced by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) has been implicated in an outbreak of salmonella. As the scope of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigation into this outbreak expanded this weekend, Peanut Corporation of America expanded its recall to additional lot codes of peanut butter. PCA supplied peanut butter to one of General Mills' suppliers, including some lots that were part of the expanded recall, prompting General Mills to issue its own voluntary national Class I recall of the two LÄRABAR and JamFrakas products potentially involved.

LÄRABAR Peanut Butter Cookie flavor snack bars and JamFrakas Peanut Butter Blisscrisp flavor snack bars are distributed nationally under the LÄRABAR and JamFrakas brands, and are sold primarily as individual bars in grocery and specialty retail stores.

The specific products in this recall include:

A combined 15,000 cases of product are involved. This includes all production of these two particular flavors, which were introduced in June.

The FDA has indicated that Peanut Corporation of America is the focus of an investigation into salmonella-related illnesses thought to be caused by tainted peanut butter. Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, particularly in young children, the elderly, and persons with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and/or abdominal pain. For more information, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site at http://www.cdc.gov.

Consumers who have products covered by this recall are urged to dispose of the product, and to contact LÄRABAR or JamFrakas for a full refund. Consumers with questions or concerns about the recall may call the toll-free hotline at 1-800-543-2147.

In addition to this recall, General Mills announced on February 13, 2009 a voluntary recall of three flavors of Cascadian Farm snack bars containing peanuts: Cascadian Farm Peanut Butter Chip Chewy Granola Bars, Cascadian Farm Sweet & Salty Mixed Nut Chewy Granola Bars, and Cascadian Farm Sweet & Salty Peanut Pretzel Chewy Granola Bars. No other General Mills products utilize any ingredients purchased from Peanut Corporation of America.

Ask Betty

Q: Where are you located and how can I contact you?

A: General Mills world headquarters is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. However, we have plants, mills and regional offices throughout the country and around the world. Our Canadian headquarters are located in Mississauga, Ontario.

For non-Canadian products you can call General Mills at 763-764-7600. If you prefer to write a letter, please send it to:

     General Mills
     P.O. Box 1113
     Minneapolis, MN 55440

If you have questions or complaints about a specific product, please contact consumer services at 1-800-328-1144 (7:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. CT, weekdays).

For Canadian Products you can call General Mills Canada Corporation at 905-212-4000. If you prefer to write a letter, please send it to:

     General Mills Canada Corporation
     Attn: Consumer Services
     5825 Explorer Drive
     Mississauga, ON L4W 5P6

If you have questions or complaints about a specific Canadian product, please contact Consumer Services at 1-800-479-8505 (9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. EST, weekdays).

Q: Why isn't my favorite General Mills product at my local store?

A: General Mills makes every effort to have our items available at your local grocery store. But not all of our items are available at all stores. We offer a product locator site which identifies stores located near you that have recently reported sales of a particular product. If you need help with this service you can call our Consumer Services Department at 1-800-328-1144.

If you can not find a product in your area, we have also developed a process that allows consumers to order some hard-to-find items online. This service is available through our Hard-To-Find Products site.

Q: I'm looking for a particular Betty Crocker recipe. Can you help?

A: Yes. But first you'll want to check our Betty Crocker Web site. Betty can help find a wide variety of recipes. She also offers a helpful menu-planning guide. If you don't find your favorite recipe, you can "Ask Betty" at the Betty Crocker Web site. Or, e-mail your request to us. We'll make every effort to find it for you.

Q: Will General Mills make a product or financial donation to my organization?

A: We wish we could fulfill all of the requests we receive from many worthwhile organizations, but the volume of requests received makes product and financial donations impossible. To better meet the needs of as many people as possible, we channel our food contributions through America's Second Harvest network of foodbanks. You can learn more about them by visiting their website at SecondHarvest.com or by calling them at 1-800-771-2303.

Q: Will General Mills help raise money for our school?

A: Through Box Tops for Education, General Mills helps to raise funds for primary schools (K-8) nationwide. There are three easy ways to earn money for your school with Box Tops for Education:

• Clip Box Tops for Education coupons from hundreds of General Mills products throughout the grocery store. General Mills will provide up to 10 cents for each qualifying box top that is submitted.
• Shop online through the Box Tops Marketplace at boxtops4education.com. Up to 10 percent of each qualifying purchase goes to your designated Box Tops for Education school.
• Charge with the Box Tops for Education Visa® card. Use the card at 20 million locations worldwide, and a full 1 percent of every purchase goes to your designated Box Tops for Education school. Call 1-800-227-9605 to apply.

Each school participating in Box Tops for Education can earn up to $60,000 each year? a maximum $20,000 from clipping, shopping and charging respectively. The funds can be used for anything, from books to computers, whatever your school needs most. For more information, or to enroll in Box Tops for Education, please check our Web site. Or, ask your school principal or PTA/PTO president to call us at: 1-888-799-2444.