165 people were confirmed to have become ill from hepatitis A after eating ‘Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Blend’ in 10 states: Arizona (24), California (80), Colorado (29), Hawaii (8), New Hampshire (1), New Jersey (1), New Mexico (11), Nevada (6), Utah (3), and Wisconsin (2). [Note: The cases reported from Wisconsin resulted from exposure to the product in California, the cases reported from New Hampshire reported fruit exposure during travel to Nevada, and the case reported in New Jersey was a household contact of a confirmed case from Colorado.] Eight of the confirmed cases were household contacts of confirmed cases (secondary cases).
- 91 (55%) female ill persons
- Ages ranged from <1 – 84 years;
- 95 (58%) of those ill were between 40 – 64 years of age.
- 11 children age 18 or under were also ill. None were previously vaccinated.
- Illness onset dates ranged from 3/31/2013 – 8/12/2013
- 69 (42%) ill people were hospitalized, and no deaths were reported
- All ill people who reported eating this product purchased it from Costco markets; however, the product was also sold at Harris Teeter stores. No ill people were identified that bought the product at Harris Teeter.
FoodWorld 