Salmonella outbreak linked to pasta salad expands
Two weeks after supermarket chain Hy-Vee recalled pasta salad at all of its 244 stores in eight states in the Midwest, federal health officials are nearly quadrupling their count of consumers stricken by salmonella linked with the product.
The outbreak connected to recalled Hy-Vee Spring Pasta Salad has sickened 79 people in nine states, with 18 hospitalized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC two weeks ago reported 20 illnesses in four states related to the incident.
Employee-owned Hy-Vee sold the potentially contaminated salad in 1 pound and 3 pound containers between June 1 and July 13 at stores in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Expiration dates on the recalled product rang between June 22, 2018, and Aug. 3, 2018. The salad may also have been scooped at the deli counter.
Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious and even fatal infections, especially in children five and younger, frail or elderly people, or those with weakened immune systems. Healthy people infected with salmonella experience symptoms including fever, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. In rare cases, the organism can enter the bloodstream and produce more severe illnesses, such as arthritis.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week warned that consumers should expect additional recalls of products possibly contaminated with salmonella. That's because multiple manufacturers were likely supplied with a common why ingredient used in recalled foods, including certain Mondelez's Ritz products and Pepperidge Farm's Goldfish, that may have been tainted.
The USDA has not linked the whey to the recalled Hy-Vee pasta salad.