The FDA, along with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Health Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and local and local partners, said the strawberries are under the FreshKampo and HEB brand names and were purchased between March 5 and April 25.
It is distributed nationally and sold at a number of retailers, including Aldi, HEB, Kroger, Safeway, Sprouts Farmers Market, Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Weis Markets, and WinCo Foods.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said potentially infected strawberries can no longer be kept, but people who have frozen them for later use should not eat them.
The FDA warned that “if you’re not sure what brand you bought, when you bought your strawberries, or where you bought them before freezing, strawberries should be thrown away.”
The Food and Drug Administration said 17 cases of hepatitis were identified in California, Minnesota and North Dakota, resulting in 12 hospitalizations. Tracking investigations show that cases in California, Minnesota and Canada have reported strawberry purchases. More products may be added as the research progresses. Between March 28 and April 30, people became ill.
The FDA also recommends that anyone who has purchased and eaten strawberries in the past two weeks and has not been vaccinated against hepatitis A should consult a health care professional to determine if post-exposure prophylaxis is needed. Anyone who thinks they may develop symptoms after eating strawberries should check with their health care provider.
Symptoms may include yellowing of the skin or eyes, not wanting to eat, upset stomach, vomiting, stomach pain, fever, dark urine or light-colored stools, diarrhea, joint pain, and fatigue.
Adults are more likely than children to develop symptoms if they are infected.
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