Description
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- MINNETONKA, Minnesota -- January
21, 2009 – Best Brands Corp. today announced that it is voluntarily recalling
its peanut butter frozen cookie dough as a precaution because the dough contains
peanut butter manufactured by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). PCA is the
focus of an investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concerning
a recent Salmonella outbreak thought to be caused by tainted peanut butter.
Salmonella is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections
in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy
persons infected with salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may
be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare cases, infection
with salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing
more severe illnesses, such as arterial infections (i.e. infected aneurysms),
endocarditis and arthritis. For more information on Salmonella, please
visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Website at http://www.cdc.gov.
The peanut butter cookie dough was sold to retail and grocery store bakeries
and other foodservice outlets. Consumers may have purchased the product
as baked cookies of various sizes. Cookies may have been sold from trays
in the bakery counter or in individual packages with grocery store labels. The
name “Best Brands Corp.” would not appear on the consumer package.
The following products are included in the recall:
- Best Brands Corp. 1.25 oz Peanut Butter Precut Frozen Cookie Dough, 22.5
lb case, 288 cookies per case (Item #1003-01)
- Best Brands Corp. 1.5 oz Custom Peanut Butter Precut Frozen Cookie Dough,
20.25 lb case, 216 cookies per case (Item #1046-01)
- Best Brands Corp. 1.25 oz Custom Peanut Butter Precut Frozen Cookie Dough,
18.75 lb case, 240 cookies per case (Item #1046-02)
- Best Brands Corp. 2 oz Custom Peanut Butter Precut Frozen Cookie Dough,
25 lb case, 200 cookies per case (Item #1046-05)
- Best Brands Corp. 1.5 oz Custom Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Precut Frozen
Cookie Dough, 20.25 lb case, 216 cookies per case (Item #1047-01)
- Best Brands Corp. 1.5 oz Custom Reese's® Peanut Butter Precut
Frozen Cookie Dough, 20.25 lb case, 216 cookies per case (Item #1048-01)
- Best Brands Corp. 3 oz Original Peanut Butter Precut Frozen Cookie Dough,
21 lb case, 112 cookies per case (Item #1610-12)
- Best Brands Corp. 1.5 oz ZT Custom Peanut Butter Precut Frozen Cookie Dough,
20.25 lb case, 216 cookies per case (Item #4367-01)
- Best Brands Corp. 1.5 oz ZT Custom Reese's® Peanut Butter Precut
Frozen Cookie Dough, 20.25 lb case, 216 cookies per case (Item #4369-01)
- Best Brands Corp. Peanut Butter Frozen Cookie Dough, 18 lb pail (Item #5201-67)
No other Best Brand Corp. frozen cookie dough products are being recalled. The
cases of unbaked cookie dough that are being recalled carry a lot code of 2208-1
or higher. The lot code is defined as follows: DDDY-B where DDD
= Julian date, Y= year and B= batch. For example, 2208-1 was the first
batch produced on August 7, 2008.
Best Brands Corp. has not received any customer or consumer illness complaints
related to the cookie dough. Best Brands Corp. is working closely with
the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture
in this precautionary recall.
Best Brands Corp. prides itself in providing the specialty baking industry
with high quality, safe products. We apologize for any inconvenience
this precautionary recall may cause.