The FDA has announced the recall of more frozen pomegranate seeds from a farm unrelated to the original infections in response to the recent Hepatitis A outbreak.
A grand total of 61,092 bags of Woodstock Frozen Organic Pomegranate Kernels from Scenic Fruit Company of Gresham, Oregon, were voluntarily recalled Wednesday, according to an FDA release.
No illnesses have been linked to the packaged berries, but the company is recalling them as a preventative measure. In product testing the seeds were not found to contain traces of the Hepatitis A virus. The product in question was shipped to California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, and Washington State between February and May of 2013.
The FDA warned anyone who's consumed the product to seek immediate medical attention.
Recently the product Townsend Farms Organic Anti-oxidant Blend caused illness in a number of people, medical experts determined the widespread sickness was caused by Hepatitis A, according to the Food Poison Journal.
As of June 25, 122 people had contracted the virus in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Wisconsin. The most cases were seen in California, where 62 people fell ill.
Fifty-eight percent of the people who contracted the virus were women, and the patients ranged in age from two to 84 years old. Most of the victims were older than 40 years of age. About half of the infected people were hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported so far.
Hepatitis A is a contagious liver disease that can be spread through food, according to the FDA. Symptoms of the virus include fatigue, abdominal pain, jaundice, abnormal liver tests, dark urine and pale stool.
The symptoms can be mild, lasting only a few weeks, or very severe and lasting for months. Symptoms usually appear within 15 to 50 days of the initial exposure. A vaccine can often protect provide protection from the virus.
