Peanut butter manufactured at the Blakely, Ga. plant of the Peanut Butter Corporation of America after July 1, 2008, sold under the brand Parnell's Pride and King Nut, is being voluntarily recalled this week due to potential for salmonella poisoning. The peanut butter is sold institutionally and not at the retail level; meaning that tainted product could be in your children's school lunches, in corporate cafeterias, in retirement home dining rooms, or in baked goods and other packaged foods containing peanut butter. One death in Virginia and two deaths in Minnesota are probably tied to the outbreak.

According to the CDC, "This is a complex, widespread outbreak that appears to be ongoing." The outbreak affects 43 states and, because most of the products sold to end consumers are unlabeled (and many of them are sold to the very young and very old, who are both the most susceptible to the disease, and the least likely to critically evaluate the foods they are eating), it could affecting thousands of small businesses and public companies.

This recall, certainly not the first time peanut butter has killed, brings new questions about the safety of all peanut butter products. Is one of America's favorite foods a disastrous choice (and not just for the allergic)? Will major candy makers like Hershey (NYSE: HSY) have to re-evaluate popular peanut-butter based brands? How long will consumers accept such "complex, widespread" deadly diseases before choosing to put the peanut butter sandwiches and peanut butter chocolates back on the shelf?