in

The FDA Is Recalling Strawberries From These Stores After Being Linked To The Hepatitis A Virus

Kalim - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purpose only, not the actual person

Strawberries are a staple of summer, but if you have recently bought some, you might not want to eat them just yet.

The FDA announced on June 1st that they’re recalling organic, fresh strawberries from multiple grocery stores after the fruits were linked to the Hepatitis A virus.

“Hepatitis A is a contagious virus that can cause liver disease,” the FDA explained. “A hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection can range in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a severe illness lasting several months.”

“In rare cases, particularly for people with a pre-existing health condition or people with weakened immune systems, hepatitis A infections can progress to liver failure and death.”

Symptoms can include pain in your abdomen, vomiting, fatigue, nausea, and even jaundice.

The FDA says 17 people so far have become ill, and 12 have ended up in the hospital. The last date that someone got sick was on April 30th, and cases have been recorded in California (15 people), North Dakota (1 person), and Minnesota (1 person), though the strawberries in question have been distributed across the nation.

The strawberries in question were sold at Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Kroger, HEB, Safeway, Weis Markets, WinCo Foods, and Sprouts Farmers Market, from March 5th of this year through April 25th of this year.

The strawberries were branded as HEB or FreshKampo, and although you cannot buy them in stores right now, the FDA is still issuing a warning and investigating how this happened, and they’re concerned that people may have frozen some of these fresh strawberries to eat at a later date.

“These potentially contaminated strawberries were imported from Baja California, a state in northern Mexico, and branded as FreshKampo and HEB by a common supplier; they were purchased between March 5, 2022, and April 25, 2022,” the FDA explained in a statement.

Kalim – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purpose only, not the actual person

Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.

1 of 2