Biology News

Professor Talks Salmonella

February 27, 2009
Jennifer Arrington provides insight on peanut butter recall on WSET

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Lynchburg, VA - Those tainted peanut products said to have sickened more than six hundred people and killed nine may continue to have an impact for years to come. This afternoon, FDA officials said it could take two years to flush the system.

The list of tainted products is still growing and so is the bacteria everyone's been worried about. The number of recalled products topped 2,600 this week.

Everyday, the FDA updates its list online, but there's no way to be sure products are pulled from every store shelf and kitchen pantry in America. Now, the concern is what happens to a tainted product that sits on a shelf for the next six months or longer. One local expert tells us the bacteria will continue to expand, making it even worse than it is today.

Prof. Jennifer Arrington, Microbiology/Randolph College (web) - "As long as those nutrients are there, they'll continue to grow and divide until they break it down, essentially. So, they can grow and survive in that product for quite a while."

Professor Jennifer Arrington went on to say she's worried people don't take the recall seriously. She says, even if you've eaten some of the recalled items without getting sick, you're taking a bigger risk each day

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