Published Date: 2007-07-19 19:00:03
Subject: PRO/EDR> Botulism, chili sauce - USA: alert, recall
Archive Number: 20070719.2316
BOTULISM, CHILI SAUCE - USA: ALERT, RECALL
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A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: Wed 18 Jul 2007
Source: US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) [edited]
<http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01669.html>
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to
eat 10-ounce (283.5 gm) cans of Castleberry's Hot Dog Chili Sauce
(UPC 3030000101), Austex Hot Dog Chili Sauce (UPC 3030099533), and
Kroger Hot Dog Chili Sauce (UPC 1111083942) with "best by" dates from
30 Apr 2009 through 22 May 2009, due to possible botulism
contamination. Botulism can be fatal. The "best by" dates can be
found on the can lids.
Consumers who have any of these products or any foods made with these
products should throw them away immediately. If the "best by" date is
missing or unreadable consumers should throw the product out.
[As of 18 Jul 2007,] 2 children in Texas and an Indiana couple who
ate these products had become seriously ill and been hospitalized.
Symptoms of botulism poisoning can begin from 6 hours to 2 weeks
after eating food that contains the toxin. Symptoms may include
double vision, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech,
difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, and muscle weakness that moves
progressively down the body, affecting the shoulders 1st, then
descending to the upper arms, lower arms, thighs, calves, etc.
Botulism poisoning can also cause paralysis of the breathing muscles,
which can result in death unless assistance with breathing
(mechanical ventilation) is provided.
Individuals who show these symptoms and who may have recently eaten
Castleberry's Hot Dog Chili Sauce, Austex Hot Dog Chili Sauce, or
Kroger Hot Dog Chili Sauce should seek immediate medical attention.
All of the products cited are manufactured by the Castleberry Food
Company in Augusta, Georgia. Castleberry has informed the FDA that it
is voluntarily recalling all of the potentially contaminated products
and is cooperating with FDA, the CDC (US Centers for Disease Control
& Prevention), and the states' active investigations into the cause
of this contamination and scope of the product distribution.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[In North America, most of the ProMED-mail posts related to
botulism food recalls concern food products that, by virtue of a
problem in manufacture, have the risk of spore germination and
production of one of the botulism toxins by vegetative _Clostridium
botulinum_. Unlike recalls related to other foodborne disease, which
require human cases linked to the recall for posting, the high
morbidity and mortality of botulism causes ProMED-mail to post all
botulism-related recalls whether cases are linked or not. In this
circumstance, however, 4 cases appear to be linked. The posting does
not state what serotype of botulinum neurotoxin is the culprit here
and what the scope of the implicated vehicle's distribution was.
The recent (2006) cluster of cases of botulism related to carrot
juice in the USA and Canada involved 7 cases. Prior to that, over the
past 30 years, 2 notable USA foodborne outbreaks related to
distributed food have occurred. One was in the New York area,
involving commercially produced vichyssoise soup in June/July 1971
(type A) (CDC: Botulism associated with commercial vichyssoise
(Morbid Mortal Week Rep 1971; 20: 242) and another involving
home-canned green peppers in Michigan in March/April 1977 (Terranova
W, Breman JG, Locey RP, Speck S: Botulism type B: Epidemiologic
aspects of an extensive outbreak. Am J Epidemiol 1978; 108: 150-6). -
Mod.LL]