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CONTACT:
Donna Gilson (DATCP), 608-224-5130
Beth Kaplan (DHS), 608-267-3810
WISCONSIN FOOD SAFETY OFFICIALS WARN CONSUMERS NOT TO EAT SOME HAZELNUTS
SOLD DURING HOLIDAY SEASON
List of Affected Stores Available Online
MADISON— If you bought in-the-shell hazelnuts (filberts) or in-the-shell mixed
nuts that contain hazelnuts since Nov. 2 at certain grocery stores,
Wisconsin food safety officials advise you not to eat them. They have been
recalled because they may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.
A list of the stores that sold the recalled products in Wisconsin and
other Midwest states is available online at http://datcp.wisconsin.gov.
Routine surveillance activities by health departments in Wisconsin,
Minnesota and Michigan identified seven E. coli O157:H7 cases with the
same DNA fingerprint with onsets between December 20, 2010 and January 28,
2011. Three have been identified in Wisconsin, three in Minnesota and one
in Michigan. Investigations by health officials revealed an association
between illnesses and eating of in-the-shell hazelnuts. All seven
individuals reported eating in-the-shell hazelnuts. The Wisconsin cases
occurred in La Crosse and Brown County and included a child and two
adults. None of the three Wisconsin residents was hospitalized, although
there have been hospitalizations in the other states.
Investigation by agriculture department officials in Wisconsin,
Minnesota and Michigan traced the source of the nuts for all seven
individuals back to California producer wholesaler D. DeFranco & Sons.
D. DeFranco has issued a recall for these products. The wholesaler sold
the nuts to four distributors who sold them to stores in the three
Midwestern states. Those companies are notifying their customers to remove
any of the nuts remaining in their stores.
Most of the nuts included in this advisory were sold out of bulk bins
in grocery stores. Some may also have been packaged by the stores,
especially if purchased after the holidays. Also included in the recall
are Sunripe Hazelnuts, Sunripe Large Hazelnuts in one-pound. packages, and
Sunripe Mixed Nuts in two-pound and four-pound packages, all with a
sell-by date of June 30, 2011. Consumers with recalled hazelnuts still in
their possession should discard them or return them to the store from
which they were purchased. Out-of-shell hazelnuts and products containing
hazelnuts as an ingredient have not been linked to any illnesses and are
not affected by the recall.
E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium. It can be
transmitted in contaminated foods, or in stool from infected patients. E.
coli 0157:H7 infections usually cause diarrhea, which is often bloody, and
severe abdominal cramps. Some individuals may become infected but display
no symptoms. Symptoms normally appear two to eight days after exposure. E.
coli infections in adults generally clear up within a week, although some
patients develop severe kidney problems that may cause lifelong damage.
Very young children, elderly people, and those with compromised immune
systems, such as transplant recipients or HIV patients, are the most
susceptible. Children may shed the bacteria in their stool for up to three
weeks.
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Last Revised: March 04, 2011
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