Salmonella Recall Could Cost Peanut Producers $1 Billion

MILWAUKEE  — The effects of the widespread peanut butter recall could cost rural America's peanut producers $1 billion in lost production and sales, according to testimony at a House subcommittee hearing.

That could be just the beginning, the head of the Georgia Peanut Commission will tell a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Small Business, according to prepared testimony obtained by The Associated Press. In his testimony, Don Koehler plans to say that the recalls, prompted by a salmonella outbreak tied to peanut butter, have severely hurt the nation's peanut producers, weakening pricing and limiting their ability to sell their products.

Koehler said the recall goes far beyond the source of the outbreak, Peanut Corp. of America, and that the companies that used its peanut butter and peanut paste in their products have had to remove their products from the marketplace. The true cost won't be known until the outbreak is over and the recall complete, he said.

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