The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has issued an urgent Food Safety Alert about a major E.coli outbreak linked to organic carrots. Thirty nine people are currently affected from eighteen states and one person has died in the outbreak so far, which has also hospitalized fifteen people.
Through interviewing sick people, the CDC has traced back the outbreak to bags of organic and baby carrots sold by Grimmway Farms. The company has recalled all of the affected products as of November 16, which include multiple brands and sizes. However, the CDC warns that affected products could still be in people’s homes and advises anyone who has purchased the products to not eat them and dispose of them immediately.
The recalled products have the following details from the Food and Drug Administration:
Baby Organic Carrots
- Best-if-used-by dates ranging from 9/11/2024 to 11/12/2024
- Brands: 365, Bunny Luv, Cal-Organic, Compliments, Full Circle, Good & Gather, GreenWise, Grimmway Farms, Marketside, Nature’s Promise, O-Organic, President’s Choice, Raley’s, Simple Truth, Sprouts, Trader Joe’s, Wegmans, Wholesome Pantry
Whole Organic Carrots
- Were available for purchase in stores approximately from 8/14/2024 through 10/23/2024
- No best-if-used-by-dates are on the bags of organic whole carrots.
- Brands: 365, Bunny Luv, Cal-Organic, Compliments, Full Circle, Good & Gather, GreenWise, Marketside, Nature’s Promise, O-Organic, President’s Choice, Simple Truth, Trader Joe’s, Wegmans, Wholesome Pantry
The three states that are worst affected so far are Washington State (eight confirmed cases), Minnesota (five cases) and New York (five cases) are the worst affected states so far, but the affected states are geographically spread out.
People who have symptoms of a severe E.coli infection after eating the carrots should seek out appropriate healthcare and inform providers that they ate a product recalled due to E.coli contamination.
Common symptoms of severe E.coli infection producing the Shiga toxin are severe stomach cramps, diarrhea sometimes with blood in it and vomiting sometimes so much that a person cannot even tolerate drinking liquids. Fever higher than 102°F and symptoms of dehydration are also signs that a person should contact a healthcare provider.
The symptoms typically start three to four days after consuming infected produce and most people recover without treatment within a week. Rarely, infection with pathogenic E.coli can cause severe kidney problems, requiring hospitalization. Very young, very old or immunocompromised people can be at higher risk of more severe disease and death from the infection.
It has been a particularly bad few months for vegetables causing severe E.coli infections after prepared onions provided to McDonalds by an external company sickened 104 people, with 34 hospitalizations and one death.
Although foodborne illnesses are thought to be more generally associated with meats, poultry and fresh produce such as unpasteurized dairy, fruit and vegetables are also the culprits of outbreaks. Those consumed raw, such as leafy greens, sprouts and ready to eat bagged and packaged salad vegetables and fruits are more frequently responsible for outbreaks than items which are ultimately cooked by the consumer.
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