China has banned food imports from 11 United States-based companies whose products have been tainted with peanut butter or paste that contain salmonella bacteria, Wednesday's China Daily reported.

The blacklisted 11 food manufacturers include the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), considered the source of the contamination, and also the breakfast cereal maker Kellogg, according to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ).

All companies selling PCA's peanut butter or peanut paste products contaminated with Salmonella Typhimurium while being processed at a Georgia plant, were recently recalled by United States.

The Salmonella Typhimurium bacteria can cause diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps and fever. The symptoms appear within 12 to 72 hours.

An inspection led by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reportedly found PCA's plant "not compliant with current good manufacturing practices required by the FDA".

The investigation also found problems in cleaning procedures, and the company failed to implement steps to mitigate salmonella contamination in the facility as well.

Some 400 food products containing PCA butter have been recalled across the United States.

(Xinhua News Agency February 4, 2009)