Jif peanut butter recall for salmonella spreads to more foods

More than a dozen products using Jif peanut butter have been recalled in recent weeks because of a salmonella outbreak.

Jif was first recalled May 20 after 14 salmonella cases were reported across several states. Food and Drug Administration investigators traced the nasty bacteria to a J.M. Smucker Company facility in Lexington, Ky.

The salmonella outbreak is now up to 16 cases, with two hospitalizations, according to the FDA. Meanwhile, many products that use Jif peanut butter have initiated their own recalls. The most recent recall came from Taharka Brothers Ice Cream in Baltimore, which makes peanut butter cup ice cream and sells it to various vendors.

Previous recalls include Wilbur chocolate products, Wawa apple and peanut butter dippers, several fresh fruit cup brands, Fudgeamentals brand fudge sold at Walmart and several baked goods from the mid-Atlantic supermarket chain Giant Eagle.

The full list is so extensive that the FDA created a separate page to track all the Jif-tainted products. However, even more recalls, including a ready-to-eat salad brand sold in Washington state, have been announced since then.

Elderly and immunocompromised people are at greater risk of serious illness or even death from salmonella. Healthier people can expect “fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain,” the FDA said. About 40 people in the U.S. die from salmonella infections every year.