The FDA and CDC are warning consumers not to eat any Honey Smacks cereal, as the Salmonella Mbandaka outbreak linked to that product grows to 130 sick in 36 states. That’s an addition of 30 more ill persons since the last update more than a month ago. The outbreak and investigation are still ongoing.
The patient case count by state is: Alabama (2), Arizona (3), California (11), Colorado (2), Connecticut (4), Delaware (1), Florida (3), Georgia (2), Illinois (1), Indiana (4), Kentucky (2), Louisiana (3), Maine (1), Maryland (2), Massachusetts (9), Michigan (4), Minnesota (12), Mississippi (2), Montana (2), North Carolina (5), New Hampshire (2), New Jersey (5), New York (15), Ohio (2), Oklahoma (2), Oregon (2), Pennsylvania (11), Rhode Island (1), South Carolina (2), Tennessee (3), Texas (3), Utah (3), Virginia (5), Washington (3), Wisconsin (2), and West Virginia (4). Thirty-four patients have been hospitalized. Three more states reported ill persons: Delaware, Minnesota, and Maine.
Illnesses started on dates ranging from March 3, 2018 to August 7, 2018. The patient age range is from less than one year old to 95. Illnesses that occurred after August 4, 2018 might not yet be reported because it takes time to get results back after a doctor’s visit.
You can contact lawyer Fred Pritzker by calling 1-888-377-8900.
Attorney Fred Pritzker, a food safety expert, who has filed many lawsuits on behalf of clients sickened in Salmonella outbreaks, said, “No ready-to-eat foods should be contaminated with pathogenic bacteria. No consumer would suspect these products could make them sick just by having breakfast.”
In interviews, 77% of the 79 patients who talked to investigators said they ate Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal the weak before they got sick. The Kellogg Company recalled all Honey Smacks products that were on the shelf within the cereal’s one-year shelf life.
But, Honey Smacks products with earlier dates could also be contaminated. Some news reports have indicated that the cereal is still being sold in some stores around the country. The cereal was recalled on June 14, 2018. If you see Honey Smacks cereal for sale, don’t buy it and inform your retailer.
Even if someone ate some Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal that you have in your home and did not get sick, throw the rest away. The bacteria can cluster into tiny clumps and may not be distributed evenly throughout all of the cereal. If you decanted the cereal into another container, make sure that you wash that container with soap and water before reusing it.
Symptoms of salmonellosis include fever, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea that can be bloody. Even if a patient fully recovers after this infection, they could suffer long term health consequences that include reactive arthritis, endocarditis, and high blood pressure.
