Peanut butter recall widens for salmonella link

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. food safety authorities extended a recall of peanut butter linked to a salmonella outbreak to include products bought as early as October 2004.

Initially, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said all Peter Pan peanut butter bought since May 2006, and all of Wal-Mart Inc.'s Great Value peanut butter with the batch code 2111 should be discarded.

ConAgra Foods Inc. makes both, and has recalled all potentially contaminated batches.

But on Friday night, the FDA said ConAgra had said all Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter beginning with product code 2111, including peanut butter toppings, back to October 2004, were being recalled.

"Consumers who have purchased any of the products since October 2004 should discard them," the FDA said.

Salmonella can cause nausea, diarrhea and other ill effects, but usually the sickness clears up on its own in less than a week.

The outbreak of salmonella related to peanut butter has affected hundreds of people in dozens of states, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last month.