SALMONELLA THREAT SPARKS CEREAL RECALL.

Byline: Margaret Taus Associated Press

Malt-O-Meal Inc. recalled up to 3 million pounds of cereal nationwide Friday because of a possible link to salmonella poisoning in 12 states.

The cereal manufacturer asked grocers to pull from their shelves the Malt-O-Meal brand of plain Toasty-Os and Toasted Oats, as well as plain toasted oat cereals sold at 38 supermarket chains under various brand names.

``Obviously the Malt-O-Meal company is deeply concerned that one of our products, the plain toasted oat cereal, has been linked to some illnesses,'' said President John Lettmann.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported nearly 200 cases of an unusual strain of salmonella since early April and said 40 people have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

The cause of the contamination isn't known. ``It'll probably be days or weeks before we know anything,'' said CDC spokesman Tom Skinner.

Stores where the cereals are sold include Kroger's, A&P, Safeway, Jewel and Foodland.

The affected cereal is sold in 10- to 40-ounce bags and 15- and 35-ounce boxes. They should be returned to the store where purchased.

Dr. John Lumpkin, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said that cereal is an unusual source of salmonella. Bacteria might have entered the cereal through contamination of a water pipe or something else in the manufacturing process or through human contamination, he said.

Malt-O-Meal, based in Minneapolis, said it learned Sunday that its Millville brand cereal sold at Aldi supermarkets in the Chicago area was the possible source of the unusual strain of salmonella. The next day, Aldi pulled boxes of Millville Toasted Oats off the shelves at all its stores in 16 states.

Only the Millville Toasted Oats and Malt-O-Meal Toasted Oats are suspected of causing illness. The other brands are being recalled as a precaution.

Malt-O-Meal pulled about 75 samples from its Northfield plant, where the Millville line is produced, for testing. All the tests came back negative for the salmonella strain agona, so more tests are planned. The company also temporarily shut down the line that makes the cereal.

Lettmann said he doesn't know how much the recall will cost the company. Other Malt-O-Meal products, including flavored toasted oat products, were not involved in the recall.

On Thursday, the CDC reported 188 confirmed cases of salmonella poisoning in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa, Kansas, Wisconsin and West Virginia. That number is expected to rise.

The agona strain accounts for only about 500 to 1,000 of the estimated 2 million to 4 million salmonella cases in the United States each year, the CDC said. The bacteria usually is found in animals, including poultry, cattle and pigs, but it also can be found in humans.

Like other strains, it causes food poisoning and leads to flulike symptoms such as headache, diarrhea, vomiting and fever that can last from 24 hours to 12 days.

CEREAL RECALL

In California, the cereals being recalled are Toasted Oats and Tasty-O's cereals sold under the following labels: Janet Lee, Lady Lee, Lucky, Malt-O-Meal, Safeway, Stater Brothers and Value Wise. The cereals are sold in 10-, 15-, 32- and 40-ounce bags and 15-, 20- and 35-ounce boxes.

Malt-O-Meal said customers with any of those products should return them to the store where they were bought for a refund.

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