The SoyNut Butter Company of Glenview, Illinois issued a recall of two Best By dates of its I.M. Healthy Original Creamy SoyNut Butter late last week after the product was linked to an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that sickened at least 12 people in 5 states. Today, they expanded that recall to include more products and one more Best By date. The product was sold at the retail level in multiple states. It was also distributed to childcare centers and schools in many states.
The I.M. Healthy Original Creamy SoyNut Butter is packaged in 15 ounce plastic jars with the Best By dates July 5, 2018, August 30, 2018, and August 31, 2018. It is also available for sale in individual portion cups with the Best By date August 8, 2018, and in 4 pound plastic tubs with Best By dates of November 16, 2018, and July 25, 2018.
The recall was initiated after ill persons or their families answered questions about the food they ate before they got sick. Nine of the nine patients (100%) reported eating either eating the I.M. Healthy products at home or after attending a childcare center that served the products.
This recall may only be for one product, but the CDC and FDA are warning consumers to not eat any I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter products until further notice. They made a specific warning about the I.M. Healthy granola coated with SoyNut Butter.
If you purchased these products or any I.M. Healthy SoyNut Butter product, do not eat it and do not feed it to your children. Throw it away in a sealed or double bagged package so other people and animals can’t eat it.
The symptoms of an E. coli infection include severe abdominal and stomach cramps, diarrhea that may be bloody and/or watery, a mild fever, and possible vomiting. These symptoms usually appear a few days after eating food contaminated with the pathogenic bacteria.
Four of the twelve people sickened in this outbreak have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a potentially life-threatening complication of a Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infection. Symptoms of that illness include little or no urine output, lethargy, a skin rash, bleeding from the nose or mouth, and pale skin. Children under the age of 5 are most likely to develop this complication. If anyone is experiencing those symptoms, they need to see a doctor immediately.
