Organic Strawberries Linked to Hepatitis A Outbreak

The strawberries were sold at several retailers.

May 31, 2022

Strawberries

WASHINGTON—The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating organic strawberries for a possible link to a Hepatitis A outbreak, reports USA Today.

The administration is looking into two brands—FreshKampo and HEB—which were sold at several retailers nationwide, including Aldi, HEB, Kroger, Safeway, Sprouts Farmers Market, Trader Joe's, Walmart, Weis Markets and WinCo Foods. The strawberries under investigation were sold between March 5, 2022, and April 25, 2022.

The traceback investigations show that cases in California, Minnesota and Canada report having purchased fresh organic strawberries branded as FreshKampo or HEB prior to becoming ill. Illness onset dates range from March 28 to April 30, 2022.

The outbreak is also being investigated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

"If you are unsure of what brand you purchased, when you purchased your strawberries, or where you purchased them from prior to freezing them, the strawberries should be thrown away," the FDA said in a statement.

NACS is hosting its first food safety conference. Join food safety, foodservice, quality assurance and risk management professionals for the inaugural NACS Food Safety Conference on Saturday, October 1, 2022, the first day of the 2022 NACS Show in Las Vegas.

The CDC posts food safety alerts and investigation notices for multistate foodborne disease outbreaks. Here is a list of the latest outbreaks.

NACS has several food-safety resources for foodservice providers. Find them on the Food Safety topics page.

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