The nationwide Hepatitis A outbreak associated with Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Blend frozen berry mix has grabbed headlines in the last few weeks. At least 79 people have been sickened in this outbreak, and 30 people are in the hospital as a result of the infection. But cases of Hepatitis A have been declining in the United States in the past 30 years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that Hepatitis A illnesses have declined by 95% since 1995 when the preventative vaccine against the virus first became available. In 2010, the incidence rate was 0.6 cases per 100,000 people, the lowest rate ever. Children are routinely vaccinated against the virus, as they are against many other diseases. And the government recommends that many adults receive the vaccination, … [Read more...]
Townsend Farms Hepatitis A Outbreak Updated by CDC
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated the Hepatitis A outbreak associated with Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Blend frozen berry and pomegranate mix. The case count now stands at 61, with 11 people hospitalized. The product has been recalled. It was sold at Costco stores and at Harris Teeter stores under the Harris Teeter name. The patient age range is from 2 to 71 years. The illness onset dates range from 4/29/13 to 5/27/13. Twenty-two of the thirty persons interviewed so far ate the Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Blend before becoming ill. Twenty-two people purchased this product from Costco markets. No cases have been identified yet that bought the product at Harris Teeter stores. Hepatitis A is divided into seven different genotypes; 80% of the … [Read more...]
FDA Updates Investigation of Hepatitis A Outbreak Associated with Townsend Farms Berries
The FDA has updated its investigation into the outbreak of Hepatitis A associated with Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Blend Frozen Berries. The product was recalled on June 3, 2013. No other Townsend Farms products, either frozen or fresh, are covered by this recall or linked to the illness outbreak at this time. The product was sold at Costco warehouse stores in 3 pound bags with UPC number 0 78414 404448. The best by dates on the recalled products are from T012415 sequentially through T053115, followed by a letter. All letter designations are included in the recall. The same product was sold at Harris Teeter stores from April 19 until May 7, 2013, under the name Harris Teeter Organic Antioxidant Blend. It was packaged in 10 ounce bags with UPC number 0 72036 70463 4. Lot codes are … [Read more...]
Hepatitis A Not Killed by Freezing
Hepatitis A is hard to kill. The virus is normally transmitted when an infected person doesn’t wash his or her hands properly after going to the bathroom and then touches food or objects where it can live for a month or more. Alcohol-based cleaners, iodine-based products, and solutions of citric or phosphoric acids will not successfully remove the virus from surfaces. The most effective way to disinfect surfaces is with a 1:100 dilution of household bleach. Heating foods to 185˚F or disinfecting them with the bleach solution will kill the virus. But rinsing contaminated foods with water doesn’t remove the virus. And neither does freezing them, which is how frozen berries came to be the source of a hepatitis A outbreak that has, so far, sickened 49 people in seven states: Arizona, … [Read more...]
Townsend Farms Recalls Mixed Berries For Potential Hepatitis
Four days after a multi-state outbreak of hepatitis A associated with frozen mixed berries was announced, the berry company, Townsend Farms, Inc. of Fairview, OR announced a recall of certain lots frozen Organic Antioxidant Blend berries. No other Townsend Farms products are included in the recall. The product under recall was sold at Costco stores under the name Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Blend in 3 lb. bags with the UPC 0 78414 404448 and codes T012415 through T053115. These codes are located on the back of the package with the words “BEST BY”; followed by the code followed by a letter. The product under recall was also sold at Harris Teeter stores from April 19 through May 7, 2013, under the name Harris Teeter Organic Antioxidant Berry Blend. It was sold in 10 oz. … [Read more...]
