Salmonella fear freezes production of potpies

ConAgra Foods Inc. voluntarily stopped production Tuesday at the Missouri plant that makes its Banquet potpies after health officials said the pies might be linked to 139 cases of salmonella in 30 states.

Separately, Seattle-based Starbucks Corp, the world’s biggest coffee shop chain, recalled 250,000 children’s plastic cups made in China after receiving reports of the cups breaking and posing a choking hazard.

Starbucks received seven reports of the cups breaking, including two incidents in which a child began to choke on a piece of the cup, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said. No injuries were reported, the agency added.

The recall covers four styles of plastic 10-ounce cups with lids shaped like a red ladybug, green turtle, pink bunny and yellow chick.

At ConAgra, executives believe that the potpies are safe if they’re cooked properly, but the Omaha-based company told consumers not to eat them until government and company investigations were completed.

Also on Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a health alert to warn consumers about the link between ConAgra’s product and the salmonella cases.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been tracking reports of those cases since last Wednesday. A CDC spokeswoman said the largest numbers of salmonella cases had been reported in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Missouri.

Salmonella sickens about 40,000 people a year in the U.S. and kills about 600. Most of the deaths are among those with weaker immune systems such as the elderly or very young. It can cause diarrhea, fever, dehydration, abdominal pain and vomiting. Most cases are caused by undercooked eggs and chicken.