FEMA Food Kits May Contain Salmonella-Tainted Peanut Butter

February 5, 2009 8:13 a.m. EST

Miami Beach (AHN) - Meal kits given to winter storm victims in Kentucky and Arkansas may contain peanut butter tainted with salmonella, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced this week.

The agency is asking people who have received the food packages to throw away any item in them that contains peanut butter. The meal kits were made by the Red Cloud Food Services, Inc. under the Standing Rock label.

They were given to residents in Kentucky and Arkansas affected by recent severe winter storms. An ice storm in Kentucky prompted the largest call-up of the National Guard in that state's history.

A spokesman for Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear said officials are finding alternative sources of food for the estimated 6,000 to 7,000 people still in shelters.

A salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 500 people in 43 states has been linked to a peanut butter and peanut paste manufacturing plant in Blakely, Ga.