An E. coli food poisoning outbreak affected 16 people in Oregon, Washington and seven other states. Three of them were children and the food poisoning was linked to a peanut butter substitute called SoyNut Butter.
The E. coli-infected foods were reportedly from the company I.M. Healthy specifically their SoyNut Butter product. The company recalled all the Soynut Butters and granola bars as a precaution and to prevent other cases of food poisoning from happening.
The Centers for Disease Control urged people to throw away the products aforementioned even if they are not yet expired. The products are most often sold to schools and child care facilities as a substitute with items that have peanut on them, KGW.com reported.
Dr. Paul Cieslak, medical director of acute and communicable disease at the Oregon Public Health Division, said in a statement, "People need to know that if they have this product in their pantries, they should immediately return it to the store where they bought it, or throw it out." If some ate the products and experienced symptoms of E. coli infection, they should see their health care provider immediately. Other products might be involved in the incident so people are urged not to purchase anything from the company.
In Oregon, the outbreak affected two children from Clackamas County. Fortunately, they were not hospitalized. No details were revealed regarding the two kids but they were the only children affected with the E. coli outbreak, Oregon Live reported.
In addition, the outbreak also caused the hospitalization of eight people and five suffered kidney failure. One of those who had a kidney failure is a child from Washington. The lawyer representing the kid's family said the child is now out of the hospital.
The other cases were recorded in Arizona, California, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Virginia, and Wisconsin. As of writing, no deaths were reported.
