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The latest recalls are part of an ongoing investigation into a outbreak of hepatitis A linked to frozen organic strawberries.
WASHINGTON — Frozen fruit sold at Walmart, Costco and HEB has been recalled because of the potential risk of hepatitis A contamination, according to the FDA.
The latest recalls are part of an ongoing investigation into an outbreak of hepatitis A infections linked to frozen organic strawberries imported from Baja California, Mexico.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been investigating and trying to contain the outbreak since at least March.
On Monday, Willamette Valley Fruit Co. of Salem, Oregon, recalled select frozen fruit products containing strawberries that were sold at Walmart stores in 32 states, Costco stores in 4 states and HEB stores in Texas. These products were sold under the Great Value and Radar Farms brands.
The FDA said the recalled frozen fruit includes:
- Walmart: Great Value Sliced Strawberries, Great Value Mixed Fruit, and Great Value Antioxidant Blend distributed to select Walmart stores in AR, AZ, CA, CO, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MI, MN, MO, MT, ND, NE, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, SD, TX, UT, VA, WI, WV, and WY from Jan. 24, 2023 to June 8, 2023
- Costco: Rader Farms Organic Fresh Start Smoothie Blend distributed to Costco Wholesale stores in Colorado, Texas, California, and Arizona from Oct. 3, 2022 and June 8, 2023.
- HEB: Rader Farms Organic Berry Trio distributed to HEB stores in Texas from July 18, 2022 to June 8, 2023.
No illnesses have been associated with this voluntary recall from Willamette Valley Fruit Co. Anybody who has frozen fruit in their freezer that is included in the recall should throw it out or return it to the store for a refund.
Last week, Wawona Frozen Foods recalled year-old packages of its Organic Daybreak Blend distributed to Costco stores in Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah and Washington from April 15, 2022 to June 26, 2022. To see the lot numbers and product photos of the affected products, click here.
Although the products were sold last year, the packages have "Use By" dates of 09/23/2023, 09/29/2023, 09/30/2023 and 10/18/2023. Shoppers are being encouraged to check their freezers to see if any of their frozen fruit is included.
The fruit includes strawberries grown in Mexico that the FDA says may have been contaminated with the hepatitis A virus.
The voluntary recall is being made out of an abundance of caution, according to the manufacturer. No illnesses have been associated with their products involved in the recall.
Daybreak Blend fruit currently being sold at Costco, or fruit that has a different purchase date, is not affected by the recall and can be safely eaten, the recall noticed explained.
The newest recalls comes after a March recall of frozen fruit sold nationwide at Trader Joe's and frozen strawberries sold in several states at a number of retailers including Costco and Aldi.
The product supplier, Scenic Fruit Company of Gresham, Oregon, said it was recalling the frozen fruit "due to an outbreak of Hepatitis A illnesses."
The affected Trader Joe's product is their store-brand frozen Organic Tropical Fruit Blend with best by dates of 04/25/24, 05/12/24, 05/23/24, 05/30/24, and 06/07/24. Trader Joe's said no illnesses have been reported to date and urged anyone with the recalled fruit blend to throw it out or return it to a store for a full refund.
The recall also includes frozen organic strawberries sold under five different brand names including Aldi's Simply Nature brand and Costco's Kirkland Signature.
The recalled frozen strawberries sold at Costco were only distributed to stores in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah and Washington with a best by date of 10/8/2024. While the recalled Simple Nature frozen strawberries were sold at Aldi stores in California, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin with a best by date of 6/14/2024.
Other products affected were sold to KeHE, Vital Choice Seafood and PCC Community Markets.
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