Pomegranate Seeds Linked to Hepatitis Outbreak Blocked by FDA

Federal food inspectors will begin detaining shipments of pomegranate seeds from a company in Turkey, after they were linked to an ongoing hepatitis A outbreak that has sickened more than 127 people in 8 states.  

On June 29, the FDA announced the detention of all pomegranate seeds shipped to the United States by Goknur Gida Maddeleri Ithalat Ihracat Tic [Goknur Foodstuffs Import Export Trading] of Turkey.

The seeds were used by both Townsend Farms and the Scenic Fruit Company in the past, and both companies have been forced to recall products amid reports of hepatitis A infections.

According to the latest update provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on June 27, at least 127 people have developed the same strain of hepatitis A linked to the seeds. While no deaths have been reported to date, at least 55 people have been hospitalized. States with people affected by the outbreak include Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Wisconsin. The Wisconsin infections occurred due to exposure that took place in California, however.

A Townsend Farms Organic Anti-Oxidant Blend recall and a recall of Harris Teeter Organic Antioxidant Blends was announced in June, after the outbreak first surfaced. Both products were distributed by Townsend Farms.

Since then, the FDA has announced a Woodstock Frozen Organic Pomegranate Kernels recall as well, also due to risk of hepatitis A infection. The kernels were distributed by Scenic Fruit Company. The Townsend Farms blends were sold at Costco stores.

The Woodstock pomegranate kernels recall was announced on June 26. It affects 5,091 cases, containing a total of 6t1,092 eight-ounce bags of the kernels. The following three lots are affected:

• C 0129 (A,B, or C) 035 with a best by date of 02/04/2015
• C 0388 (A,B, or C) 087 with a best by date of 03/28/2015
• C 0490 (A,B, or C) 109 with a best by date of 04/19/2015

Outbreak Highlights Global Food Chain Problems

Investigators from the FDA and CDC determined that pomegranate seeds from Goknur were the only ingredient the products all had in common. Outbreaks involving the same strain of hepatitis A occurred in Europe earlier this year and British Columbia in 2012. The British Columbia outbreak was tracked back to Egyptian pomegranate seeds.

The Goknur seeds were shipped from Ankara to Purely Pomegranate, Inc., of Dana Point, California, which then resold them.

“This outbreak highlights the food safety challenge posed by today’s global food system,” Michael R. Taylor, deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine at the FDA said in a press release. “The presence in a single product of multiple ingredients from multiple countries compounds the difficulty of finding the cause of an illness outbreak. The Hepatitis A outbreak shows how we have improved our ability to investigate and respond to outbreaks, but also why we are working to build a food safety system that more effectively prevents them.”

A number of pomegranate seed hepatitis A outbreak lawsuits have already been filed. One of those was a class action lawsuit representing anyone who had to obtain a hepatitis A vaccine injection due to fears that they contracted the liver disease after eating one of the recall products.

Photo Courtesy of Theogeo via Flickr/Creative Commons