2008 Woodie Awards
Salmonella scare causes stores to pull some cereals
Diane Poelker
Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: News
Breakfast lovers might want to hold the milk and set down their spoons until they check the date on a locally sold cereal.
Malt-O-Meal Cereal Company has issued a voluntary recall on its unsweetened Puffed Rice and Puffed Wheat cereals because of potential risk of salmonella poisoning. The Minnesota-based company issued the warning April 5 for all bags of cereal which feature a "best if used by" date between April 8, 2008 and March 18, 2009, according to a press release.
"We originally discovered the contamination ... through routine testing," said Jon Austin, a Malt-O-Meal media representative. "The original indication of a problem was discovered through a product test, but we have since traced it back to equipment contamination. One of the machines on the line contained salmonella."
Austin said Malt-O-Meal officials still are unsure how the factory equipment came in contact with the salmonella bacteria, but the company has ceased production of the two cereals while an investigation is underway.
"We have shut down the production line until we can better figure out how this happened," Austin said. "We're looking at how the equipment is cleaned, run and maintained. We'll have them down until we're satisfied that everything is running OK."
Austin said he could not estimate how long Malt-O-Meal's Puffed Rice and Puffed Wheat cereals would remain out of production, but the company continues to produce all of its other varieties of cereals.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site, contaminated Malt-O-Meal has caused 21 cases of salmonella infection in 13 states including California, Colorado, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. No cases have been reported in Missouri, but the CDC recommends that all consumers and retailers who possess suspect bags of cereal dispose of them immediately and contact local health officials.
Malt-O-Meal Cereal Company has issued a voluntary recall on its unsweetened Puffed Rice and Puffed Wheat cereals because of potential risk of salmonella poisoning. The Minnesota-based company issued the warning April 5 for all bags of cereal which feature a "best if used by" date between April 8, 2008 and March 18, 2009, according to a press release.
"We originally discovered the contamination ... through routine testing," said Jon Austin, a Malt-O-Meal media representative. "The original indication of a problem was discovered through a product test, but we have since traced it back to equipment contamination. One of the machines on the line contained salmonella."
Austin said Malt-O-Meal officials still are unsure how the factory equipment came in contact with the salmonella bacteria, but the company has ceased production of the two cereals while an investigation is underway.
"We have shut down the production line until we can better figure out how this happened," Austin said. "We're looking at how the equipment is cleaned, run and maintained. We'll have them down until we're satisfied that everything is running OK."
Austin said he could not estimate how long Malt-O-Meal's Puffed Rice and Puffed Wheat cereals would remain out of production, but the company continues to produce all of its other varieties of cereals.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site, contaminated Malt-O-Meal has caused 21 cases of salmonella infection in 13 states including California, Colorado, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. No cases have been reported in Missouri, but the CDC recommends that all consumers and retailers who possess suspect bags of cereal dispose of them immediately and contact local health officials.
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