Seasoning Recall Update as FDA Sets Most Severe Level
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued its most severe type of food recall after Newly Weds Foods and Kerry, Inc. notified the agency that several of their seasoning products might have been contaminated with salmonella.
Newly Weds Foods, a Chicago-based company, initiated the ongoing recall on May 2, informing the FDA that 4,685 lbs of its Steak and Burger Seasoning products, packaged in 5lb cases, could have potentially registered the presence of the dangerous bacteria. The product was distributed in Florida, Illinois and Texas.
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Wisconsin-headquartered Kerry, Inc. informed the agency on May 3 that several of its seasoning products might have been contaminated with salmonella, including 77 bags of its Cheddar & Sour Cream seasoning and 13,341 bags of its Sun Nat HV Cheddar #3 seasoning.
The products were distributed in Arizona, California, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas and Maryland, as well as in Canada.
Representative image of raw beef ribs being seasoned. Several seasoning products sold across the U.S. were hit by a Class I food recall as they could be contaminated with salmonella.
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If you think you might have one of these products at home, you can check the lot number. For Newly Weds Foods, the lot number is: MS330883.
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For Kerry, Inc’s Cheddar and Sour Cream seasoning, they are: 8092105; 8127605; and 8091886. For Kerry, Inc’s Sun Nat HV seasoning, the lot numbers impacted by the recall are 7913195; 7922168; 7930265; 7930281; 7930294; 7978577; 7982626; 7984670; 7984677; 7989993; 7989997; 7990004.
Newsweek contacted Newly Weds Foods and Kerry, Inc for comment by email on Thursday morning.
All these products are now affected by an ongoing Class I recall, which indicates the “reasonable probability that the use of, or exposure” to this food item “will cause serious adverse health consequences or death,” according to the FDA. Other types of less severe food recalls are Class II and Class III, which indicate respectively a product that, if consumed, could cause adverse health consequences or no adverse health consequences at all.
Salmonella are a group of live bacteria that normally live in the intestines of people and animals. Food can normally get contaminated with salmonella through contact with animal feces, which is more likely to happen during the butchering process of raw meat, poultry and seafood. Raw or undercooked eggs can also be contaminated with the bacteria, as well as unpasteurized dairy products.
Salmonella can cause a gastrointestinal illness and fever called salmonellosis, which can be less or more severe depending on the patient affected. Most people will start to develop symptoms between 12 and 72 hours after being infected with the bacteria and will recover without treatment after four to seven days of illness.
Most people experience diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. But in more severe cases, salmonellosis can cause aches, headaches, lethargy, blood in the urine and stool and even lead to the patient’s death.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 450 people in the U.S. die every year from acute salmonellosis.
If you think you might have eaten a product contaminated with salmonella and now present any of the symptoms above, contact your healthcare provider.
