An outbreak of Hepatitis A in Mexico strawberry fields has led to three recalls of strawberries in the United States.
Costco, Trader Joe’s, and Aldi have all asked their customers to throw away any of their frozen strawberry purchases.
The brands that were recalled were the Great Value brand, Rader Farms Organic Fresh State Smoothie Blend, and Rader Farms Organic Berry Trio.
The frozen strawberries were distributed to a total of 32 states.
FROZEN BERRY RECALL: Several brands of frozen strawberries, mixed fruits and smoothie blends have been linked to an outbreak of hepatitis A, making at least nine people sick. The recalled products were sold in dozens of states at Walmart, Costco and H.E.B. stores. pic.twitter.com/58zhH7kdAq
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) June 14, 2023
FDA Alert: Frozen Strawberries Recalled Across US After Hepatitis Reports https://t.co/9VIseUmC4S
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) June 19, 2023
Here’s what the Daily Mail reported:
An outbreak of hepatitis A plaguing Mexico’s strawberry fields has spilled over in the US, leading to three recalls in just 90 days.
Trader Joe’s, Costco, Aldi and Oregon-based Willamette Valley Fruit Company have asked customers to toss purchases in the trash due to contamination concerns.
These recalls have raised concerns about how the virus has spread to fruits grown in Mexico.
The recalled frozen strawberries and fruit blends containing strawberries were sold under the Great Value name, Walmart’s store brand, Rader Farms Organic Fresh State Smoothie Blend at Costco and Rader Farms Organic Berry Trio at HEB.
Great Value Strawberries, Great Value Mixed Fruit, and Great Value Antioxidant Blend were distributed in 32 states.
These are: Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Products at Walmart were sold between January 24, 2023, and June 8, 2023.
A voluntary recall of frozen strawberries has been expanded as the FDA has linked more retailers to a string of nine hepatitis A cases that date back to last year. https://t.co/k0XFGC12ME
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 15, 2023
Fox Business got the scoop too:
Oregon-based Willamette Valley Fruit Co. issued a recall for packages of frozen fruit sold at Walmart, Costco and HEB stores around the nation – the latest company to do so amid an outbreak of hepatitis A infections.
The select packages Great Value and Radar Farms frozen fruit contain strawberries that were grown in Mexico and have the potential to be contained with hepatitis A, according to a recall notice posted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The notice came just after California-based Wawona Frozen Foods issued a recall for year-old bags of frozen fruit that were shipped to Costco stores.
The FDA has been working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as with other state public health and regulatory officials, to investigate the multi-state outbreak of infections that started in November 2022 and have been linked to frozen organic strawberries imported from certain farms in Baja California, Mexico.
