A U.S. peanut butter maker that sells bulk supplies to institutions issued a countrywide recall of peanut butter from one its plants because of possible contamination with salmonella.

'We deeply regret that this has happened.'— Stewart Parnell, Peanut Corp. of America

Peanut Corp. of America issued the recall late Tuesday for 21 lots of peanut butter made at a plant in Blakely, Ga., on or after July 1.

The company said none of the peanut butter being recalled is sold through retail stores. Its peanut butter is made for bulk distribution to institutions, food service industries and private-label food companies.

The company said the peanut butter is sold under the brand name Parnell's Pride and by the King Nut Co. as King Nut.

Health officials on Tuesday confirmed the deaths of two people in Virginia and one in Minnesota associated with the countrywide salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 400 people in 43 states.

The health officials had recommended nursing homes, hospitals, schools, universities and restaurants discard specific containers of peanut butter linked to the outbreak.

A spokesman with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said none of the peanut butter identified in the recall was exported to Canada.

The recall was issued after an open container of King Nut peanut butter in a long-term care facility in Minnesota was found to contain a strain of salmonella.

"We deeply regret that this has happened," Stewart Parnell, owner and president of Peanut Corp. of America, said in a news release. "Out of an abundance of caution, we are voluntarily withdrawing this produce and contacting our customers."

Customers were notified by telephone and in writing, the company said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has said the outbreak may have contributed to the three deaths.

Two adults in Virginia and an elderly woman in Minnesota had salmonella when they died, though health officials said the causes of death hadn't been determined.

Besides the Georgia plant, Peanut Corp. of America has plants in Suffolk, Va., and in Plainview, Texas.