Federal Food and Drug Administration said on Saturday April 12th,2008 that at least 23 people in 14 states face salmonella or food poisoning after consuming two breakfast cereals by Malt-O-Meal. Malt-O-Meal had voluntarily recalled both unsweetened Puffed Rice and Puffed Wheat cereals on April 5th, after finding salmonella trace during the routine testing, however since the tested package batch was released 12 months ago after initial negative test for any problems, people may have consumed them. Malt-O-Meal company is very cooperative in this case, and has done everything to protect the general public health as much as it can. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are still no reported deaths but three people have been hospitalized.

What are the symptoms of salmonella? The infection includes vomiting, fever, diarrhea, nausea, and abdominal cramps. It may not seem to be severe or cause severe problems to most people but it can be fatal to people with poor health and weak immune systems; children and elders. FDA has announced and advised that people who experience such symptoms after consuming Malt-O-Meal’s two cereals should contact the doctors immediately and also to report to the local authorities.

The FDA said the recalled Malt-O-Meal products were distributed nationally under the Malt-O-Meal brand name, as well as private labels including Acme, America’s Choice, Food Club, Giant, Hannaford, Jewel, Laura Lynn, Pathmark, Shaw’s, ShopRite, Tops and Weis Quality. The cereal bags have “best if used by” dates from April 8, 2008 (coded as APR0808), through March 18, 2009 (coded as MAR1809) – Associated Press. It is advised to both consumers and retailers to throw all of the specified brands and private labels products out until further news.

As of Friday April 11th, 2008, illness and salmonella symptoms were reported by 21 people from 13 states.
California 1
Colorado, 1
Delaware, 1
Maine, 3
Massachusetts, 2
Minnesota, 1
North Dakota, 1
New Hampshire, 2
New Jersey, 3
New York, 3
Pennsylvania, 1
Rhode Island, 1
Vermont, 1

The 14th state reported was still not released, and so was the two additional cases.

Sources:
FDA recall announcement:
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/maltomeal04_08.html

Malt-O-Meal Recall Info:
http://www.malt-o-meal.com/recallinfo

By: Kaung | ChitChat247.com | KMKBlog.com