Skippy Recall 2015: Hormel Peanut Butter Jars May Have Metal Shavings
The latest 2015 Skippy recall is for certain jars of the Hormel Skippy Reduced Fat Creamy Peanut Butter Spread. It is possible that the recalled Skippy peanut butter was sent to distribution centers for Target, Walmart, and Publix in North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Alabama, South Carolina, Delaware, and Arkansas.
In a related report by the Inquisitr, the United States East Coast was recently struck by a listeria outbreak at the Whole Foods market stores. A large amount of chicken salads and pasta dishes were recalled since a cheese contamination could potentially be fatal. The recall affected Whole Foods stores in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey.
On Thursday, Hormel Foods Corp said it was voluntarily enacting a Hormel Skippy recall based upon a limited number of its Skippy peanut butter jars sold in seven states within the United States. Officials from the company explained that they had these jars of Hormel Skippy recalled because they might contain small chunk of metal shavings.
The 2015 Skippy recall involves a total of 153 cases, which amounts to about 1,871 pounds of peanut butter. Fortunately, the Hormel Skippy recall is limited to only the Hormel Skippy Reduced Fat Creamy Peanut Butter Spread that are contained in 16.3 ounce jars. In order to identify the jars affected by the Hormel Skippy recall, look for the “Best If Used By” date label of DEC1416LR1. The other identifying mark on the Skippy jar package is the UPC code of 37600-10500.
According to Reuters, a Hormel spokesman explained that the Hormel Skippy peanut butter production was affected by an equipment malfunction. It is believed the equipment put metal shavings into the jars sent to distribution centers for Publix, Target, and Walmart located in Georgia, Virginia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Delaware, and Arkansas. The only good news is that the malfunctioning equipment has already been repaired, so hopefully there should not been any more jars affected by the accident.
The reason that the Hormel Skippy recall is so serious is because metal shavings could potentially cause serious harm if swallowed. The Reuters report notes that swallowed objects “greater than 7 mm (1/4 inch) in length may cause injury such as severe choking with airway obstruction, gastrointestinal perforation or secondary infection.”
WebMd also provides further information if you happen to accidentally swallow metal shavings. The website recommends immediately calling 911 if the airway is partially or fully blocked, especially if the person cannot breathe or talk. If the airway is partially blocked, they warn not to attempt the Heimlich maneuver, thump their back, or attempt to remove the swallowed object yourself. The best advice they give is to attempt to cough in order to dislodge the metal shavings from your airway.
If the person accidentally swallows the metal shavings, or if the object remains stuck in the esophagus, the website recommends going to the doctor. In the worst case scenario, doctors will have to use X-rays to locate the object within the body in order to remove it. Although in some cases swallowed objects will simply pass through the system, if the metal shavings from the Hormel Skippy peanut bar jar is sharp it could cause internal cuts in the gastrointestinal system.
Despite the Hormel Skippy recall, shares of the Hormel stock actually closed higher than the day before, ending at $67.83 by the closing bell in Wall Street.
Recall of @Skippy includes NC. Some jars of peanut butter could contain metal shavings: https://t.co/aE0OzW1jxo pic.twitter.com/EXZwinJCz2
— Debra Morgan (@WRALDebra) October 30, 2015
[Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]
