Beware baby carrots - latest food scare!

Aug 20 2007

In the latest food scare to hit North America, Canadians are being warned about carrots from Mexico which may be contaminated with Shigella bacteria.

According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the Los Angeles Salad Company's Genuine Sweet Baby Carrots' which originate from Mexico and sold in Costco stores may be tainted with Shigella.

The company has issued a voluntary recall of the carrots after four people became ill with Shigellosis infections.

The carrots come in 672 g/1.5lb plastic bags, bearing ITM 50325, UPC 8 31129 00137 7 with a sell by date of 8/13/07 and were sold in Costco stores in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland.

Shigellosis is an infection cause by a group of bacteria called Shigella.

People infected with Shigella usually develops diarrhea (often bloody), fever and stomach cramps which occur one or two days after exposure to the bacterium.

Some infected people may have no symptoms at all, but could nevertheless be contagious; most people recover within five to seven days but young children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable and can experience such severe diarrhea that they need to be hospitalized.

Children under two who have a severe infection may also experience seizures.

Infection can occur after eating and drinking food and water that is contaminated with Shigella and can be passed from person to person.

Treatment for Shigellosis involves treatment with antibiotics which shortens the illness and kills the bacteria that may be present in the patient's stools.

As the bacteria is becoming more resistant to antibiotics, when several people in a community become infected doctors often only treat the more severe cases with antibiotics; giving antibiotics to every infected person, even those only mildly ill, may make the germs more resistant in future.

Experts warn that food contaminated with Shigella may not look or smell spoiled and experts say antidiarrheal agents as loperamide or diphenoxylate with atropine may make the illness worse and should not be used (CDC).