Avian Flu Diary: Social Media And The Peanut Butter Recall

# 2746

Although it must be sounding like old news by now, the Salmonella outbreak caused by contaminated peanuts isn't going away.

In fact, the recall notices are increasing, with now more than 800 products involved.

To date, 550 people have been confirmed to have been sickened by Salmonella in 43 states. Since there is a lag time between someone getting ill and being diagnosed, and the CDC being notified . . . that number is expected to grow.

Today the CDC and the FDA held a joint web conference for bloggers on the issue, giving all of us a crash course on the scope of the outbreak and what has been done to trace the contamination, and asking for our help to get the message out.

The use of social media - like the widgets and buttons you'll find in my sidebar - along with videos and blogs, are great reminders to the public about current threats.

Whether it is this Salmonella recall, or reminding people to get flu shots, repetition is key. As bloggers, we have the ability to reinforce these messages.

If you blog, or have a Facebook, Myspace, or other social Media site - you can help - by visiting the CDC WIDGET PAGE and putting an informational widget on your site.

Our government's Incorporating of `social media' as a tool to get important health related information out to the public is still in its infancy. Video conferences, Twitter Feeds, Widgets and Buttons, and actively engaging the blogging community is all very new . . . to them, and to us.

I'm encouraged, however, with this new sense of cooperation. Working together, we have a far better chance of finding solutions than we do working against one another.

This is, indeed, an interesting time to be a blogger.

Some of the products involved are `shelf stable' foods and snacks that may very well be sitting in the back of your pantry, or in a vending machine somewhere. Many people who keep an emergency stash of foods under the bed could well have peanut containing snacks, and are urged to check them against the (growing) database of recalled items.

What began as a recall of commercial peanut butter has now expanded into a recall of peanut oil, peanut meal, and even raw and dry roasted peanuts.

Contaminated items may even include some pet foods, and snacks.

This recall does not, however, include jars of peanut butter such as you might buy from the grocery shelves. The supplier (PCA) sold contaminated peanut butter, meal, and oils in commercial or industrial lots, for inclusion in other food stuffs.

The true extent of the contamination, and the number of people affected, will probably never be known. Many people will experience relatively mild symptoms, and not seek medical help. Even those who are seen by a doctor will likely not be tested unless their illness is particularly severe.

The chart below shows that only the tip of the iceberg of any infectious outbreak ever gets reported to the CDC.

This is my second blog on the salmonella outbreak, and I imagine I'll do more in the future. In the meantime, I'll keep the reminder to check your pantry at the top of my webpage.

You can click any of the links below to go directly to more detailed information.