Supplier of tainted Veggie Booty flavoring ID’d

updated 8:48 p.m. ET July 12, 2007

WASHINGTON - A New Jersey spice importer supplied the salmonella-contaminated seasoning used on snack food that has sickened 60 people, most of them infants and toddlers, the company recalling the snacks said Thursday.

Robert’s American Gourmet Inc. purchased the seasoning from Atlantic Quality Spice & Seasonings, said Robert Ehrlich, president and chief executive of the snack food company. The Sea Cliff, N.Y., company has recalled its Super Veggie Tings Crunchy Corn Sticks and Veggie Booty snack foods, both of which used the spray-on seasoning.

Ehrlich said previously the seasoning, believed made with Chinese ingredients, tested positive for a rare strain of salmonella.

Atlantic Quality Spice & Seasonings of Edison, N.J., said it had received assurance from its suppliers that all its ingredients were salmonella-free.

Video Veggie Booty recall June 29: Makers Veggie Booty issue a nationwide recall due to possible salmonella contamination. msnbc.com

The company has tested other products made with some of the same ingredients used to produce the seasoning, and the results have been negative for salmonella, said Stan Gorski, president of Atlantic Quality Spice & Seasonings.

“We are confident none of the materials that went into other products were contaminated,” Gorski said.

The company is still testing other ingredients used solely to produce the seasoning sold to Robert’s American Gourmet as it worked to pinpoint the source of the contamination, Gorski added. Several of those ingredients were imported from China, he said.

Veggie Booty was the likely source of the outbreak of the strain of salmonella, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC said the outbreak involved cases in 19 states, with 90 percent of the cases reported in children 3 and younger. There have been no deaths.

Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, especially in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. Symptoms include fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

The parents of an Indiana toddler have sued Robert’s American Gourmet, claiming Veggie Booty poisoned their child.

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