Frozen strawberries sold at Costco and Trader Joe’s recalled: NPR

A frozen organic strawberry product subject to the recalls is pictured in a photo provided by the FDA.

Food and Drug Administration

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Food and Drug Administration

A frozen organic strawberry product subject to the recalls is pictured in a photo provided by the FDA.

Food and Drug Administration

Frozen organic strawberries sold at stores across the US, including Costco, Aldi, and Trader Joe’s, have been recalled due to the possible link between the product and an outbreak of hepatitis A infections in Washington state.

The Food and Drug Administration is advising people not to consume certain brands of frozen strawberries after five people who ate frozen strawberries last year later became ill. Two people have been hospitalized, according to the federal agency.

An investigation by the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that all five infected people had bought the same brand of frozen organic strawberries before they got sick. Those berries, which came from a common supplier who imported them from some farms in Baja California, Mexico, “are the likely source of this outbreak,” said the CDC.

Two companies have since issued voluntary recalls in response to the investigation. California Splendor of San Diego recalled specific batches of 4-pound bags of Kirkland Signature Frozen Organic Whole Strawberries sold at Costco stores in Los Angeles, Hawaii and two business centers in San Diego.

Scenic Fruit Company, based in Gresham, Oregon, recalled the frozen organic strawberries it sold in different states — at Costco, Aldi, KeHE, Vital Choice Seafood and PCC Community Markets. The company also recalled a frozen organic tropical fruit mix, including strawberries, sold at Trader Joe’s locations nationwide.

The recall applies to frozen foods sold under the following brand names: Simply Nature, Vital Choice, Kirkland Signature, Made With, PCC Community Markets and Trader Joe’s.

The FDA is urging consumers to destroy these products or return them to their local store for a refund “out of an abundance of caution.”

Hepatitis A is one contagious liver infection, according to the CDC, often spread through close contact with an infected person or by eating contaminated food or drink. Symptoms, which can take as long as seven weeks to appear, may include vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine or pale stools, diarrhea, and fatigue.