Health officials say tests have confirmed that peanut butter made from peanuts processed at a Texas plant contains the same strain of salmonella blamed for sickening hundreds in a national outbreak. The test results offer new evidence that the outbreak attributed to a peanut plant in Georgia may have more than one origin. Both the Texas plant and the Georgia plant were operated by Peanut Corp. of America, which filed for bankruptcy amid fallout from the outbreak that also may have contributed to nine deaths. Federal authorities have launched a criminal investigation into allegations the company knowingly shipped tainted food.

The gigantic Kroger grocery store chain is recalling foods made with peanut products, amid growing concerns about the salmonella epidemic that has taken at least eight lives and sickened nearly 600 people. The product recall, which is tied to products produced tied to the Peanut Corporation of America. The company deliberately sold peanut butter and peanut paste that was contaminated with the disease, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Kroger has stores scattered in 31 states. Among the items it is asking back, for fear that they might be contaminated with salmonella, are store-baked and store-packaged cookies and select cakes sold in its family of stores. Kroger officials say that no illnesses have been reported in connection with the cookies and cakes.

National health officials believe they’ve found the source of the salmonella outbreak that has sickened some 486 people and left six dead. They’ve traced it to a peanut butter plant in south Georgia. “A combination [of testing and studies] have allowed the FDA to confirm that the sources of the outbreak are peanut butter and peanut paste produced by Peanut Corp. of America at its Blakely, Ga., processing plant,” said Stephen Sundlof, director of food safety for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “That is our assumption at this point. We will continue to follow up on any leads that point us in a different direction,” he added. The Blakely plant has shut down its business as the investigation continues, The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports. “The outbreak appears to be ongoing,” said Dr. Robert Tauxe, a deputy director of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is “very powerful evidence” of a link to the Georgia plant, according to federal researchers, who said the outbreak-strain of salmonella was recently found in an unopened container of the plant’s peanut butter in Connecticut. The same strain of salmonella was found in an opened container of peanut butter at a Minnesota nursing home where several people became ill.

The number of people stricken by the peanut butter-triggered salmonella epidemic has blown up to 485 cases nationwide, federal health officials said Tuesday. By examining genetic markers, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been able to determine that new cases are emanating from the same outbreak strain. So far, peanut butter has sparked illnesses in 43 states and Canada, and may be responsible for the deaths of six people, the officials say. The Food and Drug Administration has traced the epidemic to a Georgia plant owned by Peanut Corp. of America, which makes peanut butter and peanut paste. Until the results of investigations can be confirmed, consumers should avoid cookies, cakes and other foods containing peanut butter, but jarred peanut butter should be fine, the investigators say.