Peanut Butter Product Recall Hits Costco

January 22nd, 2009 · 27 Comments

I am sure that you have all read the news about the salmonella peanut butter issues of late. There have been so many news stories regarding this that you surely haven’t missed it. So far there have been 125 consumer products recalled from over 70 different companies. And unfortunately, the CDC has received reports of 6 deaths, 107 hospitalizations, and 486 people that have gotten sick across 43 different states and 1 province in Canada. There’s also been one pet product that has been recalled as a result of this outbreak – PetSmart’s Great Choice Dog Biscuits have been linked to peanut paste. For the complete story, check out this article on WebMD, Peanut Butter Salmonella Outbreak Rages On.

If you are like me, you may be afraid to eat any kind of peanut butter products you get from anywhere. There have been voluntary recalls involving four different products that are sold at Costco:

If you click on the links above, you can view a PDF of a letter from the manufacturer giving some information about the voluntary recall for that product. However, if you’ve purchased one of these products, you may have already received a robo-call from Costco alerting you to this recall, like Jon Lowder and his Clif bars.

If you’re looking for more information on the products that have recalled, you can view a full list at the FDA’s Peanut Butter Product Recalls page. This page is being kept up to date by the FDA and will allow you to search through the products to easily find out if the products you are interested in have been affected by the recall. You can also stay up to date specifically about recalls for products sold at Costco on their Product Notices page.

Tags: Costco in Blogs · Food · Health & Beauty · In the News

27 Responses so far ↓

1 Brian // 2009.01.22 at 3:36 pm

I bought a box of the Kashi GoLean Roll bars yesterday at CostCo. I didn’t even think about the peanut butter recall until this morning when I went to open the box and saw that one of the flavors is Caramel Peanut. Fortunately, Kashi products are not involved in the recall, a fact noted prominently on their web site. http://kashi.com/
2 Sam // 2009.01.22 at 9:23 pm

Pretty unfortunate for me that I had 2 of the 4 things listed there from costso.. lol..
Austin® and/or Keebler® branded Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers
Clif Bar & Company products
3 Nancy D // 2009.01.25 at 1:49 pm

I buy the Austin brand PB Sandwich crackers all the time and no on robo called or sent a letter!!!

There goes my daily breakfast.
4 Bob CengiaBob // 2009.01.25 at 7:17 pm

Bought two jars of Skippy peanut butter. Don’t see it on the recall list. Can I assume that its safe.
5 Kimberly // 2009.01.26 at 8:38 am

I haven’t heard anything about consumer peanut butter like Skippy or Jif, however, you might want to just double check on the FDA list (there’s a link in my post).
6 Costco’s Safety Alert Robo-Calls: Good or Bad? // 2009.01.28 at 9:50 am

[...] you may have read my recent post regarding Costco’s response to the Peanut Butter recall on some of their products. In that post I mention how Costco was performing yet another customer service by culling their [...]
7 george d ingram // 2009.01.28 at 7:45 pm

why hasn’t the peanut company responsible for this out break published a list of all of their suppliers??
8 Kimberly // 2009.01.31 at 10:57 am

They added another couple of items to the Costco products that are being recalled due to the peanut butter issue: NutriSystem Peanut Butter Granola Bars and Sinbad® Baklava & Sweets, Costco Item #s: 305683, 122744 & 306946.

Why does the baklava have peanut butter in it? Anyway, if you have those, you might want to not eat them.
9 Kimberly // 2009.02.03 at 9:18 am

For those of you that are following this thread, I wanted to make sure that I re-posed the following comment:

EFroh // Feb 2, 2009 at 8:51 pm

Just an FYI, but Kashi just issued a recall on some of their chewy granola bars, including the types sold by Costco. If you have any in the house, you might want to check their dates:

http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/kashi02_09.html
10 Kimberly // 2009.02.03 at 9:20 am

Here’s something interesting, the NutriSystem bars that I mentioned above are no longer listed on Costco as being recalled but they have substituted the following:
15 count Atkins Advantage Variety Pack Costco Item # 154195
11 linda moon // 2009.02.03 at 4:00 pm

I have a 2pack Kirkland Organic Peanut Butter Jars unopened. Purchased probably within last 6 months. I know the brand names seem to be safe, what about this brand from Costco.
12 Kimberly // 2009.02.03 at 4:06 pm

For the time being, I can only assume that the Costco brand of peanut butter is safe since it isn’t listed on the Costco Product Safety page (found here: http://www.costco.com/Service/FeaturePageLeftNav.aspx?ProductNo=10045085. Of course, you might want to keep an eye on this page because they do keep adding to the list of items that are being recalled.
13 Kimberly // 2009.02.03 at 4:08 pm

Wow, they really do keep adding to the list. I just went and noticed that they’ve added a couple of new items to the recall:
- Bear Naked All-Natural Appalachian Trail Mix
- DETOUR 24 Bar Variety Pack
- Kashi™ TLC™ Chewy Granola Bars Club Pack or Kashi™ TLC™ Chewy Cookies in Oatmeal Dark Chocolate
I’ll try to keep adding any new items to the comments on this post, or you can check out the Costco Product Safety page here: http://www.costco.com/Service/FeaturePageLeftNav.aspx?ProductNo=10045085
14 Kimberly // 2009.02.05 at 2:34 pm

Another thing added to the list of products that are being recalled:
- Hole In One (Costco item # 300460) Gift Basket
That brings the total to 10 Costco products that have been recalled due to the peanut recall.
15 Sherrie // 2009.02.06 at 9:23 pm

Anyone heard anything about Kirkland trail mix? The kind with M&M type candies, raisins, and peanuts?
16 Kimberly // 2009.02.07 at 8:37 am

Here are the latest items added to the list of recalled peanut products from Costco.
- Barons Assorted Chocolate Paint Can, 2 lb
- Ice Cream Specialties has expanded their voluntary recall to include:
  - Item # 2467 36ct Supreme Indulgence Variety Pack Novelties
  - Item # 186509 40ct North Star Variety Pack Novelties
There’s still no mention of any of the Kirkland Signature brand items such as the trail mix or their peanut butter.
17 Patti RL // 2009.02.11 at 12:14 pm

Before knowing about the Peanut products problem, I ate Kirkland brand Organic Peanut Butter (1/2 jar in December and January) . I’ve had no distress and am looking at the second jar (it was a 2 pack buy) which is unopened, with a little hesitation. I’ll keep readind this website before opening it. ITEM 555000 with a “best by 15NOV09″ date. My pancakes just won’t be the same……..
18 Christine H. // 2009.02.11 at 2:24 pm

Does anyone know if the Kirkland Signature Variety Snacking Nuts in individual packets are on the list? It’s the peanut packets I’m worried about. Kirkland Item #135286. I bought them in the fall, best before 4/21/09.
19 Kimberly // 2009.02.11 at 2:44 pm

Here’s the full list, as of today, of recalled peanut products that were sold at Costco:
- BARONS ASSORTED CHOCOLATE PAINT CAN 2 lb
- Ice Cream Specialties has expanded their voluntary recall to include:
  - Item # 2467 36ct Supreme Indulgence Variety Pack Novelties
  - Item # 186509 40ct North Star Variety Pack Novelties
- Hole In One (Costco item # 300460) Gift Basket
- Bear Naked All-Natural Appalachian Trail Mix
- DETOUR 24 Bar Variety Pack
- Kashi™ TLC™ Chewy Granola Bars Club Pack or Kashi™ TLC™ Chewy Cookies in Oatmeal Dark Chocolate
- 15 count Atkins Advantage Variety Pack Costco Item # 154195
- Sinbad® Baklava & Sweets, Costco Item #s: 305683, 122744 & 306946
- ZonePerfect Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
- Austin® and/or Keebler® branded Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers
- Clif Bar & Company products
- Premier Nutrition, Inc.’s TWISTED Nutrition Bars
20 Pat Kohn // 2009.02.11 at 5:04 pm

Are the Ann’s House peanuts in the 32 oz size safe? I have been very sick to my stomach and stomach pain, just want to rule out that it might be the peanuts.
21 Peanut Product Recalls at Costco - Update // 2009.02.13 at 11:26 am

[...] couple of weeks ago I posted about the peanut product recalls with a list of recalled products sold through Costco. I tried to keep updating the list in the [...]
22 Ron // 2009.02.13 at 8:32 pm

I didn’t see the Kirkland Select Organic Creamy Peanut Butter on the list. Can I assume that it is okay?
23 Kimberly // 2009.02.16 at 9:04 am

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have a new post regarding this so that I could make sure everyone could easily spot the latest products added to the list. You can find that post here: Peanut Product Recalls at Costco – Update.
24 CR // 2009.04.17 at 12:27 pm

I think this is broader than anyone wants to admit.

I’ve been looking for info on Costco about Quaker Oats chewy granola bar recall, namely the peanut butter and chocolate chip.

Sad to admit every time I eat one, within an hour I’m running for the bathroom and have bad gas the next few hours.

It has happened every time so I now know it’s the granola bars.

Not exactly salmonella but something is not right. It’s a HUGE box so they are going back!

I’m tired of all the recalls. America needs to step up food safety and start regulating the amount and types of foods that are processed. We definitely need to stop food manufacturing in other countries. That is just insane.

Companies need to also consider the cost implications when trying to salvage contaminated food.

Many plants will “cut in” older spoiling products into the fresh ones in hopes it will spread it out to less dangerous levels.

Unfortunately it ends up contaminating a much larger quantity of product (especially raw meats).

Another problem is facilities that process different product through the same equipment.

Sigh,…in a couple years China will be cooking your dinner! No thanks.
25 MGO // 2009.04.21 at 11:48 am

I was looking for more information on the Quaker Oats Chewy Granola bar, peanut butter and chocolate chip and over the weekend had 2 without thinking of the ingredients. Within a 24 hour time I had experienced severe abdominal pains, bloatedness, gas and frequent trips to the bathroom. I tried to see if my children consumed the product and thankfully had not. I tried to outrule other food items eaten that day and concluded it must be the Quaker Oats Chewy Granola bar, peanut butter and chocolate chip. The product was brought to the house after a baseball game and I am not sure what the SKU# or expiration date was on the packaging, as I had tossed the remaining items out in fear my children would reach for this snack.
26 Kimberly // 2009.04.21 at 11:55 am

That definitely sounds suspiciously like food poisoning. Hope it doesn’t linger too long. And I’m glad that your kids didn’t get a hold of them.
27 Jeremy // 2009.10.03 at 10:24 am

Am I the only one who has gotten sick from Skippy bought from Costco I have been sick off and on for a month befor I discovered what is making me very sick Yet theres no recall on skippy!! I’m really not happy However I have found a great wait loss Programe if you dont die first Contact me at Researchling@aol.com if you have more Skippy or Costco News !