Roosevelt County girl victim of tainted peanut butter

ALBUQUERQUE — The state that produced the peanut butter at the center of a growing national recall on Friday said it has identified its first victim of the salmonella outbreak, a 5-year-old girl from the eastern New Mexico county where the peanuts are grown and processed.

The New Mexico Health Department said it confirmed the girl from Roosevelt County had been sickened by the same bacteria that had been found in Trader Joe's Valencia Creamy Peanut Butter and the Sunland Inc. plant where it was produced.

To date, most cases have been linked to the Trader Joe's brand. But the health department said the young girl in Roosevelt County — which is some 200 miles from the closest Trader Joe's store — had eaten multiple peanut products.

Health Department spokesman Kenny Vigil said the girl was never hospitalized and has recovered.

She is the first person in the state linked to the outbreak, which the Centers for Disease Control says has sickened 35 other people in 19 other states.

"The Scientific Laboratory Division of the New Mexico Department of Health has been working with the CDC since this outbreak was announced to identify any potential cases in New Mexico," interim Health Secretary Brad McGrath Interim said in a press release. "I urge New Mexicans to check their kitchen cabinets and pantries and get rid of any of the peanut products that have been recalled."

Sunland Inc. has shuttered while it conducts a top to bottom scrubbing and upgrade to equipment and safety controls.

More than 300 products, including peanuts, peanut butter and other nut products processed at the plant, have been recalled.

Sunland, the country's largest USDA certified organic peanut processing plant, is located in Portales, the seat of Roosevelt County.

Portales this weekend is hosting its 39th annual peanut festival, which celebrates its heritage as home to the Valencia peanut. Because of their natural sweetness, Valencias are preferred for natural and organic blends of peanut butter.

Karl Terry, executive director of the Portales Chamber of Commerce, said officials were carefully monitoring all the peanut products that would be available to the public during this weekend's festival.

"This is not good news," he said of the recall. "But as far as the community, this event has been going on for 39 years, we hope this is not going to dampen the event too much."

A list of the recalled products can be found www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/CORENetwork/ucm320413.htm