Salmonella Newport cases in the U.S. and Canada continue to increase, with more than 1,000 cases linked to onions from Thomson International.
Thomson International has recalled all onions it shipped from May 1 to Aug. 1, including yellow, white, red and sweet onions; they were shipped to customers in all 50 states, and as Aug. 18, the 869 were in every state except Oklahoma and Louisiana. As of Aug. 14, there were 339 cases, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
The Food and Drug Administration and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency named red onions from Thomson International as the likely source of the outbreak in late July, and no other onions have been named as a source. The company recalled all onions, however, in the case of possible cross contamination.
The FDA on Aug. 18 reported it is analyzing onions, water and environmental samples at the Bakersfield, Calif., onion grower-shipper.
On Aug. 19, meal kit shipper HelloFresh issued an “urgent recall notice” to alert its customers that it had shipped a dozen products with onions from the week of May 8 through July 24. HelloFresh had notified customers in a similar notice in early August.
“We sincerely apologize for this supplier-related incident,” according to the HelloFresh recall notice on the FDA website. “Your safety is our highest priority and we have taken immediate steps to ensure our onions are no longer sourced from this supplier.”
The FDA has updated the list of onions and products made with the recalled onion on its website, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has listed products that contain protein that have been recalled. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has listed 11 recalls and other health notices relating to the Thomson International onions.
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