ye olde public service announcement.

In this article, cases of salmonella are traced to two specific brands of peanut butter both manufactured by the company ConAgra. The two brands are Peter Pan and WalMart's house brand, Great Value.

If you are concerned about your peanut butter, look for the product code, a series of numbers stamped on the lid. If the product code on your peanut butter begins with 2111, it was manufactured in the ConAgra plant associated with the problems. It may have a greater or lesser (or no) amount of salmonella in it.

Everyone is being urged to throw out any peanut butter made in this plant. I think this is a perfectly decent precaution, considering the cost of new peanut butter of another brand versus the cost of possible illness.

However, there is a great big common sense idea I'd like to present here. ( I'm not a medical professional. None of the following is medical advice. Please use common sense and, if you require medical advice, consult your own medical professional. )

Random curiosity and the desire to learn are wonderful things, but they don't really have a place at 3AM.