Pot Pie Salmonella

ConAgra Foods Inc. voluntarily stopped production of Banquet pot pies on October 9, 2007 at its Missouri plant after health officials said turkey and chicken varieties of the pies and store brand pot pies may be linked to 139 cases of salmonella in 30 states. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been tracking reports of the salmonella cases over the past week. Nineteen cases were reported in Wisconsin alone and other cases have been reported in Pennsylvania and Missouri. To date, no deaths have been linked to the pot pies.

ConAgra is offering consumers refunds, but no recall of pot pies has yet been issued. Both the Banquet and store brand pot pies affected by the health alert were marked with "P-9" printed on the side of the box as part of a code above the "use-by" date.

ConAgra has sent a mixed message to consumers: although ConAgra officials said the pies are "safe if properly cooked", the company also told consumers on October 9th not to eat its chicken or turkey pot pies until the government and the Omaha-based company made thorough investigations.

The same day, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a health alert warning consumers about the link between the pot pies and the salmonella cases.

ConAgra History of Contaminated Foods

This isn't the first time ConAgra Foods has been in the news. Just this year, the giant packaged food company recalled Peter Pan and Great Value Peanut Butter after 628 people in 47 states become ill from salmonella poisoningâ€"ConAgra's peanut butter production plant in Georgia was found to be contaminated with salmonella.

During July 2002, an outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 was identified in Colorado.. By the time the ConAgra Beef Company recalled 18.6 million lbs of fresh and frozen beef products, more than 28 people were ill: seven were hospitalized and five developed hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS)--a disorder that occurs when an infection in the digestive system produces toxic substances that destroy red blood cells and often affects the kidneys.