ConAgra Foods Inc. is refusing to recall Banquet-brand and other potpies tied to a national salmonella outbreak, rejecting direct pleas by Oregon and Minnesota health officials.

The state officials say the company needs to recall all of its potpies because the source of the salmonella has not been identified. Doing anything less, they say, allows potentially dangerous food to remain on the market and confuses consumers.

The company says a recall is unnecessary. It contends that contamination is limited to its poultry potpies. Risks can be eliminated, the company says, by instructing consumers to cook the pies thoroughly enough to kill salmonella bacteria.

Banquet pot pies are cheap and popular. We used to eat them. I almost bought some at the store this week, in fact. Just a heads up to avoid them for now. In fact, I avoid ConAgra products as much as I possibly can, because they have had a few too many recalls on things. Of course, they own just about everything, so it’s really hard to avoid them all.

From the press release from ConAgra:

The generic store brand not-ready-to-eat pot pie products bearing the number “P-9” printed on the side of the package are sold under the generic store brand names as shown below:

* Hill Country Fare (sold at HEB);
* Food Lion (sold at Food Lion);
* Great Value (sold at Wal-Mart);
* Kirkwood (sold at Aldi);
* Kroger (sold at Kroger); and,
* Meijer (sold at Meijer).