The Malaysian Ministry of Health has also announced the removal of Jif brand peanut butter from its shelves!
With the United States recently announced a recall of Jif brand peanut butter contaminated with salmonella, the Malaysian Ministry of Health also confirmed that the peanut butter was sold in Malaysia and has ordered the withdrawal of the brand of peanut butter from the market.
The Jif brand peanut butter in question has been exported to Canada, Thailand, Honduras, Spain, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia.
The affected Jif brand peanut butter products are sold under lot numbers 1274425 to 2140425, with the last three digits being 425. The Ministry of Health is urging consumers to stop consuming the products if they have already purchased them.
There is an incubation period of about 6 to 12 hours after infection with Salmonella and the main symptoms that follow include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea and fever. Bacteremia and complications in other tissues and organs can occur in about five percent of infected individuals, and death is possible in severe cases. Young children, the elderly, and others with weakened immune systems are at high risk for serious consequences.
For the general population, if the infection is only a gastroenteritis reaction with no other systemic symptoms and the patient has no underlying disease himself, then no special treatment is usually needed and antibiotics are not recommended. The reason is that gastroenteritis caused by Salmonella is usually self-limiting and will heal on its own after a few days even without treatment, while the use of antibiotics may also have other adverse effects, such as producing side effects or prolonging the carrier state.
However, in the case of younger children, the elderly and people with certain diseases that cause immune deficiency, it is necessary to follow the doctor’s instructions and take the necessary antibiotic treatment.