Cereal Link to Food Poisoning Is Probed: salmonella found ... Chicago Tribune April 12, 2008

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From a silent sister:This may be especially important for those with Celiac disease: --------------------------------------------

Malt-O-Meal

brand name, as well as private labels including

Acme , America 's

Choice, Food Club, Giant, Hannaford, Jewel, Lynn, Pathmark, Shaw's,

ShopRite, Tops and Weis Quality www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-cereal-recall,0,6723901.story chicagotribune.com Cereal

Link to Food Poisoning Is Probed By

Associated Press 7:45 PM

CDT, April 12, 2008 MINNEAPOLIS : At

least 23 people in 14 states have been sickened by the same strain of

salmonella found in two breakfast cereals recalled by Malt-O-Meal, the federal

Food and Drug Administration said Saturday.

Officials in Minnesota are investigating whether a case in that state might be linked to the cereals

produced by the Minneapolis-based company, the state health department said.

Malt-O-Meal voluntarily recalled its unsweetened Puffed Rice and Puffed Wheat

cereals April 5 after finding salmonella contamination during routine testing.

The affected bags were produced in the past 12 months in

Northfield .

"The Malt-O-Meal company has been extremely cooperative in this

investigation and has done the right thing to protect the public's

health," Heidi Kassenborg, director of the dairy and food inspection

division at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, said in a statement.

Three people have been hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported,

according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Symptoms of salmonella infection include nausea, vomiting, fever, diarrhea and

abdominal cramps. It can be life-threatening for people with poor health or

weakened immune systems, including young children and the elderly.

The FDA said people who experience such symptoms after eating a puffed wheat or

puffed rice cereal made by Malt-O-Meal should contact their doctors and report

the illness to state or local health authorities.

The FDA said the recalled products were distributed nationally under the

Malt-O-Meal brand name, as well as private labels including

Acme , America 's

Choice, Food Club, Giant, Hannaford, Jewel, Lynn, Pathmark, Shaw's,

ShopRite, Tops and Weis Quality. The cereal bags have "best if used

by" dates from April 8, 2008 (coded as APR0808), through March 18, 2009

(coded as MAR1809).

Consumers with products from the recalled lots are advised to throw them out,

and retailers have been told to remove the cereals from their shelves.

The CDC said that as of Friday it had received reports of 21 people ill with

the same salmonella strain in 13 states. California reported 1; Colorado , 1; Delaware ,

1; Maine , 3; Massachusetts ,

2; Minnesota , 1; North

Dakota , 1; New Hampshire , 2;

New Jersey , 3; New York ,

3; Pennsylvania , 1; Rhode

Island , 1; and Vermont ,

1.

It wasn't clear Saturday what the 14th state was or whether the two additional

cases were from there.

___

On the Net:

FDA announcement: http://tinyurl.com/6h7r7xRecall

announcement: http://www.malt-o-meal.com/recallinfo

Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may

not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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