December 3, 2024

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Outbreak Investigation of E. coli O121:H19: Organic Carrots (November 2024)

Outbreak Investigation of E. coli O121:H19: Organic Carrots (November 2024)

Product

Grimmway Farms initiated a voluntary recall of multiple sizes and brands of bagged organic whole and baby carrots.

  • Organic whole carrots were available for purchase at retail from August 14 through October 23, 2024 (Brands: 365, Bunny Luv, Cal-Organic, Compliments, Full Circle, Good & Gather, GreenWise, Marketside, Nature’s Promise, O Organic, President’s Choice, Simple Truth, Trader Joe’s, Wegmans, Wholesome Pantry).
  • Organic baby carrots include specific best-if-used-by dates printed on the bags ranging from September 11 to November 12, 2024 (Brands: 365, Bunny Luv, Cal-Organic, Compliments, Full Circle, Good & Gather, GreenWise, Grimmway Farms, Kroger, LIDL, Marketside, Nature’s Promise, O Organic, President’s Choice, Raley’s, Simple Truth, Sprouts, Trader Joe’s, Wegmans, Wholesome Pantry).

Additional recalls are being conducted by companies that used or repackaged recalled carrots that may have been supplied by Grimmway Farms:

A full list of recalled products is below. These products are likely no longer available for sale in stores but could be in people’s homes.

Symptoms include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea, fever, nausea, and/or vomiting. Symptoms begin anywhere from a few days after consuming contaminated food or up to nine days later.

The severity or presence of certain symptoms may depend on the type of pathogenic E. coli that is causing the infection. Some infections can cause severe bloody diarrhea and lead to life-threatening conditions, such as a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), or the development of high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease, and neurologic problems.

Stores Affected

These products were sold nationwide but are likely no longer available for sale in stores.

Status

Ongoing

Recommendation

  • Consumers should check their refrigerators and freezers and should not eat recalled bagged organic whole or baby carrots. If you have these products in your home, do not eat or use them, throw them away, and clean and sanitize surfaces they touched. If you purchased organic whole or baby carrots and stored them without the original packaging and don’t know what brand they are, you should not eat them and should throw them away.
  • Retailers and distributors that purchased recalled bagged organic whole or baby carrots should not sell this product and should notify their customers. These products are likely past shelf-life and no longer available for sale in stores, but distributors and retailers should check their refrigerators and freezers and should not serve or sell recalled bagged whole or baby carrots.
    • Retailers that are unsure if they received these products may need to contact their supplier. If you are unable to determine whether or not recalled product was received, you should discard the contents of the bins and use extra care to clean and sanitize the bins before refilling.
  • Retailers, distributors, and consumers should follow FDA’s safe handling and cleaning advice and use extra care in cleaning and sanitizing any surfaces and containers that may have come in contact with these products to reduce the risk of cross-contamination.
  • Contact your healthcare provider if you think you may have symptoms of an E. coli infection after eating organic carrots.

Current Update

November 21, 2024

On November 16, 2024, Grimmway Farms initiated a voluntary recall of multiple quantities and brands of bagged, organic whole and baby carrots and contacted their distributing customers. Recalled products were shipped directly to retail distribution centers nationwide in the United States and Puerto Rico. These products should no longer be in grocery stores but may be in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers.

The Grimmway Farms recall also impacts markets outside of the United States. Customer information provided by Grimmway Farms shows that the recalled products were also distributed to customers in Canada, Colombia, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates. Grimmway Farms has directly notified international customers who received recalled products. For additional information, international officials and customers can visit the company’s recall announcement.

Additional recalls are being conducted by companies that used or repackaged recalled carrots that may have been supplied by Grimmway Farms:

FDA’s investigation is ongoing and more information will be provided as it becomes available.

Case Count Map Provided by CDC

Case Count Map from CDC for the Outbreak Investigation of E. coli O121:H9 Related to Organic Carrots (as of 11/15/2024)


Case Count

  • Total Illnesses: 39
  • Hospitalizations: 15
  • Deaths: 1
  • Last Illness Onset: October 28, 2024
  • States with Cases: AR, CA, CO, MA, MI, MN, MO, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, SC, TX, VA, WA, WY
  • Product Distribution: Nationwide
  • International Distribution: Canada, Colombia, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates


Recalled Products

On November 16, 2024, Grimmway Farms initiated a voluntary recall of multiple quantities and brands of bagged organic whole and baby carrots and contacted their distributing customers. Recalled products were shipped directly to retail distribution centers nationwide in the United States and Puerto Rico. These products should no longer be in grocery stores but may be in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers.

Organic whole carrots, which do not have a best-if-used-by date printed on the bag, but were available for purchase at retail stores from August 14 through October 23, 2024:

Label

Bag Sizes

Sample Product Image

365

1lb, 2lb, 5lb

365 Carrots

Bunny Luv

1lb, 2lb, 5lb, 10lb, 25lb

Bunny Luv Carrots

Cal-Organic

1lb, 2lb, 5lb, 6lb, 10lb, 25lb

Cal-Organic Carrots

Compliments

2lb

Compliments Carrots

Full Circle

1lb, 2lb, 5lb

Full Circle Carrots

Good & Gather

2lb

Good & Gather Carrots

GreenWise

1lb, 25lbs

GreenWise Carrots

Marketside

2lb

Marketside Carrots

Nature’s Promise

1lb, 5lb

Nature's Promise Carrots

O Organic

1lb, 2lb, 5lb, 10lb

O-Organic Carrots

President’s Choice

2lb

President's Choice Carrots

Simple Truth

1lb, 2lb, 5lb

Simple Truth Carrots

Trader Joe’s

1lb

Trader Joe's Carrots

Wegmans

1lb, 2lb, 5lb

Wegmans Carrots

Wholesome Pantry

1lb, 2lb, 5lb

Wholesome Pantry Carrots

Organic baby carrots with best-if-used-by-dates ranging from September 11 through November 12, 2024:

Label Bag Sizes

Best if used by:

From

Best if used by:

Through

Sample Product Image

365

12oz, 1lb, 2lb

9/11/24

11/02/24

365 Baby Carrots

Bunny Luv

1lb, 2lb, 3lb, 5lb

9/11/24

11/12/24

Bunny Luv Baby Carrots

Cal-Organic

12oz, 1lb, 2lb, 2pk/2lbs

9/11/24

11/02/24

Cal-Organic Baby Carrots

Compliments

1lb

9/14/24

10/24/24

Compliments Baby Carrots

Full Circle

1lb

9/14/24

10/24/24

Full Circle Baby Carrots

Good & Gather

12oz, 1lb

9/14/24

11/02/24

Good & Gather Baby Carrots

GreenWise

1lb

9/11/24

10/26/24

GreenWise Baby Carrots

Grimmway Farms

25 lb bag

9/11/24

10/03/24

 

Kroger

2lb

9/14/24

11/02/24

 

LIDL

1lb

9/16/24

11/07/24

 

Marketside

12oz, 1lb, 2lb

9/11/24

11/02/24

Marketside Baby Carrots

Nature’s Promise

1lb

9/13/24

10/25/24

Nature's Promise Baby Carrots

O Organic

12oz, 1lb, 2lb

9/11/24

11/02/24

O-Organic Baby Carrots

President’s Choice

1lb, 2lb

9/11/24

11/02/24

President's Choice Baby Carrots

Raley’s

1lb

9/14/24

10/23/24

Raley’s Baby Carrots

Simple Truth

1lb

9/14/24

10/20/24

Simple Truth Baby Carrots

Sprouts

1lb, 2lb

9/13/24

11/04/24

Sprouts Baby Carrots

Trader Joe’s

1lb

9/13/24

11/04/24

Trader Joe's Baby Carrots

Wegmans

12oz, 1lb, 2lb

9/14/24

11/02/24

Wegmans Baby Carrots

Wholesome Pantry

1lb, 2lb

9/16/24

11/07/24

Wholesome Pantry Baby Carrots

Additional recalls are being conducted by companies that used or repackaged recalled carrots supplied by Grimmway Farms:

International Distribution

The Grimmway Farms recall impacts markets outside of the United States. Customer information provided by Grimmway Farms shows that the recalled products were also distributed to customers in Canada, Colombia, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates. Grimmway Farms has directly notified international customers who received recalled products. For additional information, international officials and customers can visit the company’s recall announcement.


Previous Updates

November 17, 2024

The FDA and CDC, in collaboration with state and local partners, are investigating illnesses in a multistate outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O121:H19 infections linked to organic whole and baby carrots supplied by Grimmway Farms of Bakersfield, California.

State and local public health officials are interviewing people about the foods they ate in the week before they got sick. Of the 27 people interviewed, 26 (96%) reported eating carrots.

FDA’s traceback investigation identified Grimmway Farms as the common supplier of organic whole and baby carrots in this outbreak. On November 16, 2024, Grimmway Farms initiated a voluntary recall of multiple quantities and brands of bagged organic whole and baby carrots and contacted their distributing customers. The retail-packaged organic whole carrots were in stores for purchase from August 14 through October 23, 2024. The organic baby carrots have different best-if-used-by-dates ranging from September 11 through November 12, 2024. A full list of recalled products is below.

Although product is likely no longer on the market, carrots can last a long time when refrigerated or frozen. Consumers should check their refrigerators and freezers and discard these recalled products. Distributors and retailers that may have received recalled bagged organic whole and baby carrots should follow the recommendations above and contact their customers.

FDA is working with the firm to determine the source of contamination and whether additional products are affected. This advisory will be updated as information becomes available.



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