The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) is warning consumers to not eat any Kuntry Gardens produce or products made with produce from Kuntry Gardens of Homer, Michigan. The products may be contaminated with raw, untreated human waste.
During a routine produce safety inspection, MDARD staff identified that the company was using raw, untreated human waste on the fields where produce was grown. The produce is sold in local grocery stores and also through direct sale from the farm.
The use of raw, untreated human waste for growing commodities intended for human food is a violation of the Michigan Food Law, as well as other state and federal laws and regulations. Human feces and urine can be contaminated with many pathogens, including rotavirus and norovirus, and bacteria such as E. coli, Clostridium difficile, Salmonella, Shigella, and Vibrio. Infectious diseases such as cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, polio, cryptosporidiosis, ascariasis, and schistosomiasis have been spread through human waste.
While no illnesses have been reported to date, the government is asking that anyone who is ill see their doctor. Symptoms that may appear include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, fever, abdominal cramps, loss of appetite, weakness, headache, or other problems.
The produce may have been further distributed or sold at more locations, but the state says that the items were sold at these locations in Michigan:
• Kuntry Gardens at 29910 R Drive South in Homer
• Busch’s Fresh Food Market stores located in Ann Arbor, Brighton, Canton, Clinton, Dexter, Farmington Hills, Livonia, Novi, Pinckney, Plymouth-Northville, Rochester Hills, Saline, South Lyon, Tecumseh, and West Bloomfield
• Simply Fresh Market at 7300 Grand River Road in Brighton
• White Lotus at 7217 West Liberty Road in Ann Arbor
• Argus Farm Stop at 325 West Liberty Street in Ann Arbor
• Agricole Farm Stop at 118 North Main Street in Chelsea
• Pure Pastures at 1192 Ann Arbor Road in Plymouth
• Ypsi Coop at 312 North River Street in Ypsilanti
• Greener Pastures Market at 21202 Pontiac Trail in South Lyon
• Holiday Market at 520 South Lilley Road in Canton
• Cherry Capitol in Traverse City
MDARD has placed products still on the farm under seizure and is working with the farm to oversee disposition and corrective action. If you purchased any of their products, do not throw them away. Contact the farm or facility where the items were purchased for instruction on disposal and refund.
