A Kelloggs Honey Smacks Salmonella lawsuit has been filed; no update on this outbreak has been issued by the CDC or FDA since mid-June. On June 15, 2018, the CDC stated that there were 73 people sick with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Mbandaka in 31 states. Twenty-four of those patients have been hospitalized because their illnesses are so serious.
The cereal was first recalled on June 14, 2018. Two UPC numbers of the product were recalled. The recalled product had “best if used by” dates of June 14, 2018 through June 14, 2018.
But several days later, the CDC told consumers to not eat any Honey Smacks cereal of any size package or any “best if used by” date. No explanation for this huge recall expansion was given.
Consumers have been advised to throw away any Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal, and to clean out containers if the cereal was decanted out of the original box. Even if some of the cereal was eaten and no one got sick, public health officials said discard it.
If you would like to contact attorney Fred Pritzker, about this Kelloggs Honey Smacks Salmonella lawsuit, call 1-888-377-8900 or 612-338-0202.
Food safety lawyer Fred Pritzker, who has represented many clients in Salmonella outbreaks, said, “This outbreak demonstrates that even foods people don’t usually associate with food poisoning can be contaminated.”
There are several ways that a food such as dry cereal can be contaminated with Salmonella bacteria. This contamination is unusual, but not unheard of.
In 2008, there was a Salmonella outbreak linked to puffed rice and puffed wheat cereals distributed under the Malt-O-Meal label. The Minnesota Department of Health confirmed that a Salmonella Agona isolate obtained from the Northfield plant had the same pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) pattern as isolates taken from patients. While Malt-O-Meal officials stated that they “determined a root cause of this situation,” they never specified the actual cause of the contamination.
And in 1998, 209 people in 11 states were sickened in a Salmonella Agona outbreak involving Malt-O-Meal’s toasted oats cereal. At least 47 patients were hospitalized in that outbreak.
The symptoms of Salmonella food poisoning include nausea, vomiting, a fever, stomach cramps, and diarrhea that may be bloody. If you or someone in your family has eaten Kelloggs Honey Smacks cereal and has been sick, see a doctor.
