Senior StaThose with a penchant for peanuts may have noticed the recent absence of the majority of products containing peanuts from campus dining establishments since last week.
Due to a string of recalls issued by producers of peanut paste starting earlier this month, potentially contaminated products were pulled from shelves nationwide. The contamination, originating from a factory in Georgia, was linked to several cases of salmonella.
The contamination, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Web site, extends only to bulk containers of peanut paste, meaning that peanut butter available directly to consumers is safe. But the bulk quantities of peanut paste that food processing companies use as an intermediary ingredient in foods like sandwich crackers and candy bars are still potentially dangerous.
Brown Dining Services received an e-mail update from the FDA on Jan. 23 about the contamination and removed all products immediately, according to Gerry Teixeira, the purchasing manager for BDS.
"We're happy that we pulled everything," Teixeira said, because FDA officials "keep adding products on a daily basis."
Some peanut products do remain in dining establishments, such as jars of Jif peanut butter in the Sharpe Refectory, but Teixeira said that anything available to students has been officially declared safe by the FDA. BDS has been especially scrupulous in keeping the contamination out, according to Sean DeBobes, assistant manager of Josiah's, who said Brown has been "a little more precautionary" than other local eateries.
As for the return of other products containing peanut paste, which includes the packaged peanut butter available at the Sharpe Refectory and the Verney-Woolley Dining Hall, as well as packaged candies and snacks that contain peanut products, Teixeira said that BDS is waiting for clearance from the FDA before restocking shelves.
"If there's any doubt whatsoever that there could be some harm," he said, "we will not put them out on the shelves."
Until then, DeBobes said Little Jo's has introduced several new products to take the place of those that were recalled.
Both DeBobes and Gate supervisor Carlos Reyes reported few, if any, complaints about the lack of peanut butterproducts.
Teixeira said BDS will incur financial losses from pulling products, but the specific numbers are still unknown.
Ultimately though, he said, "that was not our concern. Our concern, always, is for the health and well-being of the student body."
