PORTLAND (AP) - Health officials are urging consumers not to eat pot pies made by Banquet because of a link to a multistate outbreak of salmonella.

ConAgra Foods Inc. stopped production Tuesday at the Missouri plant that makes its Banquet pot pies after health officials said the pies may be tied to 139 cases of salmonella in 30 states, including Oregon.

ConAgra maintains that its pies are safe if they’re cooked properly, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a health alert Tuesday to warn consumers about the link with the salmonella cases.

State health officials echoed the department’s concerns.

Consumers were urged to discard the items.

The source of the contamination was unknown, but it appeared to have been ongoing for months. State health officials said anyone who has eaten the product and has not gotten sick does not need to do anything. However, people who have had severe diarrhea or diarrhea with fever should tell their doctors if they have consumed pot pies within the week before they became sick.

Salmonella infections can cause diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramping and sometimes vomiting. Symptoms typically last less than a week, but some individuals — particularly infants, the elderly and those with immunodeficiencies — are at increased risk for severe illness.