US: Hershey Import Co. in peanut recall

By: just-food.com | 3 February 2009

The Hershey Import Co. has become the latest US firm to recall snack products containing peanuts made at Peanut Corporation of America's (PCA) site in Blakely, Georgia.

The New Jersey-based snacks processor and importer, which is not affiliated with US confectionery giant Hershey Co., said yesterday (2 February) that the recall took in products sold under eight brands, including Express Snacks and Grateful Harvest.

The Hershey Import Co., which is a division of US natural and organic food distributor United Natural Foods, said the products were made with peanuts made at the PCA site in Blakely. The facility has been identifed as the source of a nationwide salmonella outbreak in the US.

According to figures released yesterday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some 550 people in 43 US states have been infected with the outbreak strain of salmonella. Eight deaths have also been linked to the outbreak, while one person has also been taken ill in Canada.

The Hershey Import Co.'s recalled products have lot codes - 7001 through to 9029, with expiration dates of 1 January 2008 through to 29 January 2010.

As the outbreak has spread and PCA has extended its recall of products made at the Blakely site, Hershey, the confectionery group behind brands including Reese's and Kisses, has insisted that it does not buy peanut products from PCA.

Sectors: Bakery, Food safety, Retail, Snacks

Companies: Hershey, The Hershey Import Co., Peanut Corporation of America