There’s ooze in the news, as the salmonella peanut butter bug spreads. It seems more products are involved than first were suspected, though no jars of grocery-store peanut butter are in the mix.

So if you buy by the jar for your PB&J (that’s peanut butter and jelly to you non-believers in the ultimate comfort food), you’re safe. But if you buy certain brands of crackers, cookies or ice cream with peanut butter, you may be in for a track meet between your bedroom and the bathroom.

That’s because the salmonella in this food-poisoned peanut butter attacks the digestive tract like the worst “don’t drink the water” bacterium, causing fever, abdominal cramps, vomiting and diarrhea. For the very young and very old, whose immunity systems aren’t as strong, it even can be deadly. In fact, at least one death linked to this salmonella outbreak has been reported in Minnesota, Georgia and Idaho.

For others, salmonella treatment is minimal. It rarely involves medical care, much less a hospital stay, but can be damaging, including missed wages or salary from missed time at work.

For now, the feds figure you’re safe unless you live in a nursing home or visit a hospital, university or other institution whose food services unit bought the bad brown goo from an Ohio food distributor, King Nut, which in turn got it from a Virginia supplier, Peanut Corp. of America.

It’s also believed salmonella may have entered the food chain via peanut butter in crackers called Little Debbie Snacks, which have been recalled. Also voluntarily yanked have been 16 Kellogg products, including Kellogg Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers and snack-size packs of Keebler Soft Batch Homestyle Peanut Butter Cookies and Famous Amos Peanut Butter Cookies. Some ice cream products from Perry’s Ice Cream, based in Buffalo, N.Y., also are getting recalled.

All those names might make you drool, but should make you dread. Salmonella food poisoning is serious stuff — enough to spark full-scale federal investigations, massive recalls and widespread alarm. If you or a loved one believe you have suffered from salmonella food poisoning via tainted peanut butter products, get a free case review to alert a salmonella food poisoning lawyer with Jim S. Adler & Associates and find the legal help you need. A PB&J may not be in the cards, but an SOS just might be.

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