A Salmonella outbreak linked to Krinos brand tahini sesame paste was the tenth-largest, multi-state food poisoning outbreak of 2013. The sesame paste, distributed by Krinos Foods, LLC of Long Island City, New York, sickened 16 people in nine states. One person was hospitalized and died.
The outbreak included two strains of Salmonella: Montevideo and Mbandaka. Both are considered rare by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which announced the outbreak on May 22. By state, the case count was as follows: California (1), Georgia (1), Iowa (1), Louisiana (1), Minnesota (2), New York (1), North Dakota (1), Texas (7), and Wisconsin (1).
Krinos issued a recall of the product on April 28. The recall was eventually expanded to included products with expiration dates from January 1, 2014 to June 8, 2014 and from October 16, 2014 to March 15, 2015.
On May 29, 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) placed the Turkish importer of the sesame paste, Gesas Genel Gida Sanayi Ve Ticaret A.S. of Turkey on Import Alert meaning the FDA can detain tahini from this firm offered for import into the U.S. unless the importer provides evidence that it is not contaminated with Salmonella.
Salmonella is one of the most common sources of food poisoning in the U.S. sickening about 1.3 million Americans each year. Symptoms of an infection, called salmonellosis, include diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps which usually develop 12 to 72 hours after exposure and last up to a week. Infections can become life-threatening when they migrate from the digestive tract to the bloodstream. About 15,000 people are hospitalized with salmonellosis each year, of those about 4,000 die.
Salmonella infections can also trigger long-term health problems including reactive arthritis, inflammation of the heart, spine, tendons and eye membranes. Children younger than 5 , seniors, pregnant women and those with weakened immune systems are most at risk.
Check Food Poisoning Bulletin each day as we count down the largest multi-state food poisoning outbreaks of 2013. Coming tomorrow: #9.
