Fallout from the salmonella outbreak linked to six deaths and nearly 500 illnesses in the United States has crossed the border into Canada.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced a recall yesterday of nine varieties of snack bars amid fears they may be contaminated with tainted peanut butter or peanut paste.
The affected products include snack bars from popular brands Clif, Larabar, Nature's Path Organic and Hebert's Fully Loaded.
Canadian officials warn more products may be pulled off shelves as they continue their investigation and identify other companies that may have used the contaminated spreads.
"With the size of this recall, in terms of volume of peanut butter, we may certainly expect more recalls in this country," said Garfield Balsom, food safety and recall specialist at the CFIA. "We will certainly be notifying the consumers."
Health officials in the United States have already warned Americans to avoid any cookies, ice cream, snack bars and other products containing peanut butter.
There have been no reports of illnesses linked to the recalled products distributed in Canada, Mr. Balsom said. One illness in New Brunswick was tied to the outbreak, but officials said the person frequently travels to the United States and likely became ill after eating food purchased there.
The peanut butter and paste involved in the recall was manufactured by Peanut Corp. of America and is not sold directly to the public. It is usually sold in bulk form to companies that make cookies, crackers and other snack foods, as well as to institutions such as nursing homes.
That's a major reason why it's taking U.S. and Canadian health officials a long time to determine what caused people to become sick and where the peanut butter was distributed.
Illnesses were first reported last September.
"We're talking a very large volume of product," Mr. Balsom said. Canadian officials only learned Monday that potentially contaminated products had been distributed in this country, he added.
Many food-safety experts have long criticized the industry for failing to create tracing systems that could help quickly identify where products have been distributed. In cases of a product recall, such a system could reduce the threat to public health, they say.
The U.S. recall began earlier this month and was quickly expanded to include numerous products distributed throughout the United States.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 475 people in 43 states have become infected with the salmonella typhimurium strain. More than 20 per cent of those affected were admitted to hospital.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has traced the contamination to a peanut butter plant in Georgia, and has expanded product recalls to include all of the peanut butter produced there since Aug. 8, and all peanut paste produced since Sept. 26.
For a full list of the recalled products, visit inspection.gc.ca.
