Most afternoons, my three-year-old and I curl up on the couch with a snack, her to take a Noggin break, and me to catch up on email. Yesterday, while we took our break, a particular email came through: "Kellogg's Pulls Peanut Butter Crackers in Salmonella Scare."

In light of the King Nut salmonella outbreak, Kellogg's is asking stores nationwide to pull Austin and Keebler brand peanut butter crackers from the shelves. The second that email came through, I looked down at my fair-haired baby, sitting innocently next to me ... munching on an Austin peanut butter cracker.

Gah.
Thankfully, no one has reported a problem regarding the crackers, and they aren't being recalled. This is more of a watchful waiting scenario on Keebler's part. "We are taking these voluntary actions out of an abundance of caution," Kellogg CEO David Mackay said.

Food safety is a growing concern in the United States today, and it seems like more and more "innocent" products are getting caught in the mix. The words "food safety" used to conjure up images of bad or poorly cooked meat, not children's snack foods. Peanut butter crackers? What's next -- instant oatmeal? Chicken noodle soup?

It's these same concerns that have slowly changed my shopping habits over the years. During the growing season, most of our food is grown locally, and in the winter we depend heavily on our local co-op for meat products. But still, we all have our favorites and peanut butter crackers happen to be one of my daughter's. It's a favorite she'll have to give up until this salmonella outbreak is cleared up, though, even if it's just a precautionary measure.

Do recalls and headlines about contaminated foods change the way that you shop for your family? Do you change your habits just for the short term, while the recall is in effect, or do you avoid those products in the long term too?