The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2022
Jif peanut butter shipped salmonella — a $125 million recall
Salmonella from Jif's Lexington plant made 21 people ill in 17 states. J.M. Smucker recalled the flagship brand and took a $125M hit.
J.M. Smucker · 2022-05-20
What happened
Jif is J.M. Smucker's flagship peanut butter, made at a plant in Lexington, Kentucky. In May 2022, the FDA linked a salmonella outbreak to Jif products, and Smucker recalled select jars produced at the plant. The recall grew over the following weeks as the investigation added products and states.
By late July the outbreak had reached 21 illnesses across 17 states, and the recall extended to the United States and Canada, covering dozens of Jif products in many sizes. Smucker said it would take a $125 million hit from the recall — destroyed inventory, lost sales and the cost of restarting production at the plant.
The recall triggered a class action in July 2022 and months of headlines about a pantry staple. Smucker said it had identified and corrected the source of the contamination. The $125 million charge — inventory destroyed, sales lost, production stopped — showed what one contaminated plant costs the owner of a flagship brand.
Why it happened
- Salmonella in Jif products went out of the Lexington plant until the FDA traced a multi-state outbreak back to the brand in May 2022.
- The recall spanned the US and Canada and the charge reached $125 million — the price of letting a staple brand's plant ship contaminated product.
- A class action filed weeks after the recall showed the legal exposure kept compounding after the product was pulled.
The lesson
A multi-state outbreak traced to a single plant cost Smucker $125 million and put its flagship brand in court. Plant-level checks and traceability are cheap next to recalling the national brand.
Aftermath
The recall expanded over weeks to cover Jif products sold in the United States and Canada, and by late July the FDA had counted 21 illnesses across 17 states. J.M. Smucker said in June it would take a $125 million hit from the recall, covering destroyed inventory, lost sales and the cost of restarting the Lexington plant. A class action over the recall was filed in July 2022. The company said it found and corrected the source of the contamination.
Sources
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