According to the FDA, 39 have been reported with the illness, 15 have been hospitalized and one has died across 18 states as a result of the outbreak.
- According to a release from Grimmway Farms, they voluntarily recalled several varieties of organic whole and baby carrots after the CDC notified the company the product might be associated with the outbreak. Grimmway noted the implicated farms are on hiatus and while the suspected carrots may not be in grocery stores, they could be in people's refrigerators and freezers. The brands and sizes of affected carrots can be found on the FDA's website.
- Kimberly Hernandez, Division Director of Health Services with Kern County Public Health, said those who fall ill with E. Coli typically get better over a short period of time, but extended bouts with symptoms should be reported to a healthcare provider to limit serious illness.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
An E. coli outbreak linked to Grimmway Farms organic carrots is said to be the cause of dozens of people getting sick, I'm Sam Hoyle, your neighborhood reporter.
According to a release from Grimmway Farms: "Grimmway Farms has issued a recall of select organic whole carrots and organic baby carrots that should no longer be in grocery stores but may be in consumers' refrigerators or freezers."
The release continues to note that Grimmway is voluntarily recalling affected items, "after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that these products may be associated with an outbreak," and added, "the implicated farms are out of production and none of the recalled carrots have tested positive for E. coli."
While they're not able to comment on the specifics of the most recent outbreak, Kimberly Hernandez with Kern County Public Health said in a case like this public health departments like the county's are rapidly working to trace the source of the issue.
"A lot of the cases that we call them spontaneous cases, where people get sick and we don't know where it came from, but we start an investigation where we'll typically call that patient, you know, ask them what kind of foods they've eaten, where they might have traveled, they've been in contact with people who are sick. And it's those dots that get connected in something like this multi-state outbreak," said Hernandez.
According to the release: "recalled products were shipped directly to retail distribution centers nationwide in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada."
According to an update from the FDA, 39 cases of the illness have been reported, 15 people have been hospitalized and one person has died across 18 states where the carrots were distributed.
Hernandez noted that if you believe you are sick, contact a healthcare provider as soon as possible.
"Most people who get sick, you know, they'll get sick in three to four days after they consume that, you know, contaminated material, and then most people actually will recover on their own. But there are some people who get very sick, and so it's really important to watch out for symptoms," said Hernandez.
Late Monday, we heard back from a media representative with Grimmway Farms who referred us back to the company's press release. To learn more about the recall you can find those links in this story on our website.
As this story continues to develop, we'll keep you up to date both on air and online.
Just outside of Arvin, I'm Sam Hoyle your neighborhood reporter
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