If you recently bought organic strawberries from Aldi, HEB, Kroger, Safeway, Sprouts Farms Market, Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Weis Markets, or WinCo foods, you’re going to want to listen up: The Food and Drug Administration is investigating an outbreak of hepatitis A that has been linked to this produce. The strawberries in question were sold between March 5 and April 25, 2022 by brands FreshKampo and HEB. The outbreaks have occurred across California, Minnesota, and Canada; there are 17 confirmed cases and 12 hospitalizations.
If you purchased an affected product, it is already past its shelf life. If you’ve already consumed the strawberries, the FDA says you should speak to a medical professional—and if you still have some in your freezer, you should throw them away immediately. The FDA also says restaurants and retailers should not sell or serve any of these organic strawberries. Additionally, if you can’t be certain where you bought your strawberries or by which brand they were sold, your best bet is to throw them away. Better safe than sorry!
Women Are Swapping Their Boring Water For This Ice Pop Electrolyte Mix!
Hepatitis A Symptoms
If you're starting to feel nervous about the fact that you've eaten strawberries lately, don't panic. Just keep an eye out for the warning signs of hepatitis A. Symptoms of this infection normally show up 15-50 days after consumption of a product (in this case, the strawberries). That means if you contracted hepatitis A from the contaminated strawberries, you would have begun to see symptoms anywhere from March 28-April 30, 2022. Symptoms include fatigue, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, jaundice, dark urine, and pale stool.
If you know you have eaten the strawberries in question and you have not received a hepatitis A vaccine, you should contact your doctor as soon as possible. They will determine whether or not you should move forward with post exposure prophylaxis (PEP), which may help prevent an infection within 14 days of exposure. If you have already received your hepatitis A vaccine, you are immune from the infection. However, it's still a good idea to speak to a healthcare professional if you're concerned.
All in all, it's always best to practice safe food habits, which includes washing your hands before and after preparing food.
