The Capistrano Unified School District has removed recalled peanut butter from its menus, while two other districts say they didn’t offer the potentially contaminated spread, Patch has learned.
At the end of last month, Sunland Inc. of New Mexico recalled more than 200 products containing peanut and nut butters in fear that they could cause salmonella food poisoning.
Just last week, the California Department of Education announced that any Sunland peanut butter received by school districts through its distribution centers, commercial manufacturers, and Commodity Supplemental Food Program agencies would be destroyed.
There have been no cases reported of California students affected by the product, according to a state Department of Education press release.
“The district has returned six cases of food items containing the peanut butter in question to its distributor,” said Capo Unified spokesman Marcus Walton.
Meanwhile, representatives from the Laguna Beach and Saddleback Valley unified school districts said they never offered the peanut butter.
“We are a peanut-free district so we do not purchase any items that contain peanut butter,” said Tammy Blakely, assistant to the superintendent at Saddleback.
The peanut butter was purchased by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the National School Lunch and Commodity Supplemental Food Programs, according to the state. About 2,072 cases of Sunland peanut butter affected by the recall were sent to 320 school districts throughout the state. Another 23,040 cases were shipped to six California food banks.
For more information on the recall, visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Website. Additional information can be found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web site.
