Abby Reinhard Mon, June 6, 2022, 9:37 AM
When you go grocery shopping, you probably don’t give much thought into whether or not products are safe to eat. We mostly assume that if they’ve made it to the shelf, these items have been properly vetted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other regulatory agencies. We also take extra precautions by washing our produce and checking “best by” dates—but sometimes, food can make us sick, even if it looks and tastes totally fine. In fact, the FDA recently issued a recall notice for one popular beverage, which could lead to severe health complications. Read on to find out what drink the agency says you should alert your doctor about consuming.
There have been a number of food recalls recently.
Despite rules and regulations put in place for food manufacturers, sometimes products do fall through the cracks. One of the most major recent incidents included a massive string of recalls related to J.M. Smucker Co.’s peanut butter products, with an initial announcement dating back to May 20. The company identified potential Salmonella contamination in certain products, which also affected fresh fruit snack cups sold at grocery chains nationwide, as well as fudge products sold at Walmart.
There have also been some notable meat recalls, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announcing potential contamination of ready-to-eat bacon products from Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp. on May 20. Now, the latest concerns involve a drink you might have thought would be beneficial to your health—but could actually do real harm.
A popular drink is potentially contaminated.
On June 5, the FDA announced that Urban Remedy was voluntarily recalling its Organic Revitalizing Tea Tonic Strawberry Hibiscus Rose due to potential contamination.
The tea was stocked at retailers across the country, including stores in California, New Mexico, Virginia, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, New York, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Illinois, Ohio, Maryland, Wisconsin, Texas, Wyoming, Missouri, Maine, Kentucky, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Nebraska, and Utah. Affected products were sold between May 17 and May 29.
“At Urban Remedy, food safety is our company’s top priority,” Paul Coletta, CEO of Urban Remedy, said. According to the FDA release, the company “is committed to keeping their customers informed,” instructing those who purchased potentially contaminated products to throw them away or return them to their place of purchase for a credit.
Affected products had a universal product code of 813377025831, a lot number of 1232, and a Best By date of July 17, 2022. The teas were sold in 12-ounce bottles.
The tea tonics have been connected to a previous recall.
Earlier this month, the FDA announced that fresh organic strawberries sold under the brands FreshKampo and HEB were not safe for consumption after regulatory agencies linked the strawberries to a recent hepatitis A outbreak. According to the recall notice, the strawberries were sold at major retailers, including Walmart, Kroger, and Aldi, among others.
The FDA now says that the Urban Remedy Organic Revitalizing Tea Tonic Strawberry Hibiscus Rose may contain the same strawberries that were connected to the outbreak investigation.
As of May 31, there were 17 reported cases of hepatitis A in the U.S., including 12 hospitalizations. Fifteen hospitalizations were reported in California, with individual cases in both Minnesota and North Dakota, the FDA reported. The strawberries are now past their shelf life, sold between March 5 and April 25, but the agency asked anyone who froze the berries to eat later, to throw them out. This also applies to any strawberries where you can’t identify the brand or when and where you purchased them prior to freezing.
If you drank this tea, call your doctor now.
While no illnesses have been reported in connection to the recalled tea tonic, the FDA recommends contacting your doctor or your local health department if you drank it. Hepatitis A is contagious and can cause liver disease, and your healthcare provider can help determine if vaccination will be necessary.
For those who do contract hepatitis A, there is a wide range of symptoms, including headache, fever, loss of appetite, nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, as well as darker urine, or a pale stool, the FDA said. These symptoms are likely to appear between 15 and 50 days after consuming food or water that has been contaminated. If you experience any of the signs of hepatitis A, the agency also recommends reaching out to your doctor immediately.
Developing liver disease is rare and primarily affects those with compromised immune systems and those with pre-existing severe illnesses, the FDA said. Infections vary in severity and can span anywhere between a few weeks to several months. The infection can also be asymptomatic, namely for children under the age of six.
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