The recent salmonella outbreak in the U.S. linked to tainted peanut butter has been the cause of five deaths and sickened 453 people across 43 states and Canada said U.S. health officials. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the outbreak which started mid September has been spreading including one case in Canada and more cases could be expected though the strain involved is not particularly virulent. 

Robert Tauxe, deputy director of the Division of Foodborne, Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases at the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, "Of these 22 percent are hospitalized and five deaths have been reported that may be associated."

The prime suspect behind the current outbreak is peanut butter and peanut paste and The CDC and the Food and Drug Administration are focusing on Peanut Corp. of America’s (PCA) plant at Blakely, Georgia, where peanut butter and peanut paste is made and sourced to many major companies. As a result of the suspicion Kellogg Co. and King Nut Cos. halted sales of products made from Peanut Corp. ingredients this week and officials urged the 32 other companies that sourced their supplies from Peanut Corp. to take similar precautions.

“We don’t yet have the data to provide consumers with specific information about what brands or products they should avoid,” said Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

The Peanut Corporation of America has voluntarily recalled peanut processed at its Georgia processing facility. Tauxe and other officials stressed that only institutional peanut butter was involved, not the branded products, adding that peanut butter sold in grocery stores doesn’t appear to be associated with the outbreak.

The health officials managed to narrow down the suspect list to peanut butter after asking those affected by salmonella if they remembered what they ate prior to the illness. The officials said about two-thirds of patients remembered having eaten peanut butter, and added that some foods may contain peanut products that may not be obvious.

"Peanut butter is used as an ingredient in many different foods, which makes this investigation complicated," Tauxe said. "In fact this appears to be an ingredient-driven outbreak."

 Kellogg Co (K.N) said on Wednesday it had put a precautionary hold on Austin and Keebler branded peanut butter snacks on Jan 14, while King Nut recalled its King Nut and Parnell’s Pride brand peanut butters on Jan. 10 after salmonella was identified in one open five-pound tub.