Photo taken on Jan. 17, 2007 shows strawberry pickers picking frostbitten strawberries and strawberry flowers in the strawberry field on Oxnard farm in Ventura County of Southern California, the United States. (Xinhua Photo/Qi Heng)
Consumers, restaurants, and retailers should not sell, serve, or eat any fresh organic strawberries branded as FreshKampo or HEB if purchased between March 5, 2022, and April 25, 2022.
LOS ANGELES, May 31 (Xinhua) -- A multistate outbreak of hepatitis A infections in the United States and Canada is likely linked to contaminated organic strawberries sold in leading grocery stores, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
These strawberries were branded as FreshKampo and HEB, sold between March 5 and April 25 in groceries including Walmart, Aldi, Sprouts Farmers Market and Trader Joe's, according to the FDA.
"Consumers, restaurants, and retailers should not sell, serve, or eat any fresh organic strawberries branded as FreshKampo or HEB if purchased between March 5, 2022, and April 25, 2022," the FDA said in a statement.
The agency urged people who purchased the fresh strawberries and then froze them for later consumption not to eat them.
Traceback investigations showed that cases in Canada and U.S. states of California and Minnesota reported having purchased fresh organic strawberries branded as FreshKampo or HEB prior to becoming ill. Illness onset dates ranged from March 28 to April 30, according to the FDA.
A total of 17 cases of hepatitis A had been reported in the United States as of Saturday, and 12 people had been hospitalized with the highly contagious virus that can cause fever, nausea, stomach pain and fatigue, the FDA said. ■
