Calling Charlie and all other peanut butter eaters - !!!!!

By KATE BRUMBACK and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR (Associated Press Writers) From Associated Press January 17, 2009 5:54 AM EST

Officials said they are focusing on peanut paste - which is essentially ground up peanuts - as well as peanut butter, produced at a Blakely, Ga., facility owned by Peanut Corp. of America. The concern about peanut paste is significant because it can be used in dozens of products, from baked goods to cooking sauces.

WASHINGTON - Kellogg Co. on Friday recalled 16 products containing peanut butter due to possible salmonella contamination, adding new urgency to the nationwide outbreak as federal officials confirmed contamination at a Georgia facility that ships peanut products to 85 food companies.

The Battle Creek, Mich., company earlier this week had asked stores to pull some of its venerable Keebler crackers from shelves as a precaution. But in a statement late Friday, Kellogg said it was voluntarily announcing a formal recall of the crackers and other products in light of the problems in Georgia.

The outbreak has sickened hundreds of people in 43 states and killed at least six.  "The Kellogg recalls 16 products due to salmonella risk"

Federal officials said they are focusing on 32 of the 85 companies that Peanut Corp. supplies, because of the time period in which they received shipments of peanut butter or paste. The

companies are being urged to test their products, or pull them from the shelves as Kellogg did.

It includes not just peanut butter, but baked goods and other products that contain peanuts and are sold directly to consumers. Health officials say as many as one-third of the people who got sick did not recall eating peanut butter.

"The focus is on peanut butter and a wide array of products that might have peanut butter in them," said Dr. Robert Tauxe, director of the foodborne illness division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.