Denver mother Diane Brogden normally serves cashew butter from the health store.

But Wednesday, when she made heart-shaped tea sandwiches for her second-grade daughter's Valentine's Day party at school, she made them with peanut butter.

Peter Pan brand, naturally.

"I feel horrible," Brogden, 40, said Friday, referring to the national outbreak of salmonella linked to tainted peanut butter.

"I thought most kids wouldn't like cashew nut butter," Brogden said. "I didn't send turkey and cheese because I thought it would sit out too long and spoil."

But Brodgen said Friday that no one has reported getting sick at the school, which she asked to remain nameless to save the school embarrassment. The principal sent home alerts to parents, she said.

In Colorado, health officials have identified 10 suspected cases of peanut butter-caused salmonella, half of which are in the Denver metro area.

Meanwhile, at the Jefferson County Public Schools, a list of peanut butter recall "talking points" was sent to each school principal, said district spokeswoman Marlene Desmond.

"We've had a lot of phone calls from parents," Desmond said. "The food service department looked at all of our peanut butter. We do not have the brands in question."

Desmond said teachers were asked to toss any snacks containing peanut butter.

Many had done so long ago.

"So many kids have nut allergies, a lot of classes have just shied away from peanut butter to begin with," she said.Crunchy or creamy, doesn't matter. The state health department is urging people to throw away the jars of Peter Pan or Great Value peanut butter with the product code on the lid beginning with 2111.

Nationwide, 290 people have become ill in 39 states after eating Peter Pan peanut butter.

Typically, that means up to a week of fever, stomach cramps and diarrhea. But the chances of contracting the foodborne illness remain slim."Not everybody will get sick," state department of health spokeswoman Lori Maldonado said. "If they have a weakened immune system - the very young or the very old, they would be affected."

Murielle Romine, epidemiologist for Broomfield County, said she discovered a possibly tainted jar in her own cupboard. She threw it away.

"I've been eating it for three weeks, and I'm healthy as a horse," she said.

Romine said the peanut butter link is unusual.

"Normally you see salmonella in undercooked chicken, eggs or some kind of animal exposure," she said.

Joe Fowler, regional epidemiologist for the San Juan Basin Health Department, which covers La Plata and Archuleta counties, said he investigated a salmonella case last fall in La Plata County.

A child had been out collecting eggs, so eggs were considered the most likely source of the illness.

"In my investigation peanut butter did not come up as a likely source," Fowler said.

But a couple months later, the county was notified the case matched the genetic footprint of Salmonella Tennessee strain, the one that has shown up in peanut butter.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the outbreak appears to be ongoing and the first consumer may have become ill in August 2006.

Colorado cases

Number of salmonella cases linked to peanut butter:

Arapahoe   1

Broomfield   1

Denver   3

El Paso   1

Fremont   1

La Plata   1

Weld   2

• Refunds: Return the Peter Pan or Great Value Peanut Butter lid along with name and address to ConAgra Foods, P.O. Box 3768, Omaha, NE 68103 for a refund.

poppenj@RockyMountainNews.com or 202-954-5176

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