Efoodalert alerted me that food inspectors conducting recall effectiveness checks in the state of Connecticut in response to the nationwide Salmonella outbreak linked to King Nut peanut butter have confirmed the presence of Salmonella bacteria in an unopened five-pound tub of peanut butter found at a Connecticut food distributor, Consumer Protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell, Jr.

“This is the first unopened tub (Georgia may disagree) of King Nut peanut butter found in the country that is definitively identified as being tainted with salmonella,” Farrell said. “My office just received the results from the Connecticut Department of Public Health Laboratory confirming the presence of Salmonella Type B in an unopened tub. This provides further evidence that some lots of King Nut brand peanut butter delivered to food service accounts are responsible for a recent outbreak of salmonella infections in consumers.”

The product, bearing one of the lot numbers identified in the recall, (lot # 8234 with a production date of 8/21/2008) was found at City Line distributors of West Haven. It was the only tub of that recalled lot. However, agency inspectors have taken samples of the other King Nut peanut butter tubs for analysis.