Canadian Costco Stores Recall Nature’s Touch Organic Berry Cherry Blend Due To Hepatitis A Contamination

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has issued a recall of Nature’s Touch Organic Berry Cherry Blend due to possible Hepatitis A contamination.

The agency issued information on its website on April, 15, 2016 about the recall urging consumers to throw away the product or to return it to the store it was bought from.

The Nature’s Touch Organic Berry Cherry Blend product was sold exclusively at Costco warehouse locations in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

The specific products are 1.5 Kg bags of Nature’s Touch Organic Berry Cherry Blend with the code “Best Before dates up to and including 2018 MR 15” and the UPC code 8 73668 00179 1.

The recall was spurred on by investigations by the Public Health Agency of Canada that uncovered 12 cases of Hepatitis A linked to the Nature’s Touch Organic Berry Cherry Blend product.

Nine cases occurred in Ontario, two in Quebec, and one in Newfoundland and Labrador. People became sick in February and March of 2016, and three of them were hospitalized as a result.

Hepatitis A Symptoms

You may not be able to detect foods contaminated with Hepatitis A because the food doesn’t have to smell or look bad. You may or may not get sick if you consume food contaminated with Hepatitis A.

Hepatitis A can be spread to others and is a disease the affects the liver, causing inflammation, and can result in fever, nausea, vomiting, muscle aches, and jaundice, a yellowing of the eyes and skin.

The illness can last up to several months, but usually lasts for one to two weeks. The illness rarely becomes chronic, resulting in death.

Previous Costco Berry Blend Hepatitis A Recall

Costco was involved in a similar product recall in 2013. The Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Blend berry mix was linked to thirty cases of Hepatitis A. Find out more in the video.