Mystery Food Linked to Dozens of Salmonella Cases

An unknown food item has been linked to dozens of salmonella cases across the United States, prompting an investigation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

On Thursday, the FDA sent out an update to its Coordinated Outbreak Response & Evaluation (CORE) Team for an outbreak of salmonella that has so far caused 45 cases in the U.S.

The update said that the FDA has "not yet identified" which specific products have been linked to the 45 cases of salmonella. A table showing the different investigations launched by the CORE team shows that the FDA has initiated a traceback of the salmonella cases, meaning that it's working to "identify the source and distribution of the implicated food and remove the contaminated product from the marketplace, to distinguish between two or more implicated food products, and to determine potential routes and/or sources of contamination in order to help prevent future illnesses."

Newsweek has reached out to the FDA via email for more information on its investigation into the unknown product causing the salmonella cases.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), salmonella is an organism that can cause serious and potentially fatal infections in young children, elderly people or those with weakened immune systems. Healthy people exposed to salmonella may experience a fever, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. In rare cases, salmonella can enter the bloodstream causing severe illnesses including arterial infections, endocarditis and arthritis.

The CDC estimates salmonella bacteria cause about 1.35 million infections, 26,500 hospitalizations and 420 deaths in the U.S. every year. Food is the source for most of these illnesses.

The update this week comes shortly after several different outbreaks of salmonella have been reported by the FDA, prompting recalls of certain products.

In November 2023, Newsweek published a map showing where different cases of salmonella have been reported in recent weeks, which sparked a recall of cantaloupes in several states. In Arizona, Minnesota, Ohio, Missouri and Wisconsin, there were at least seven cases of salmonella reported that was linked to the fruit, prompting recalls from several brands such as Sofia Produce LLC, Jewel Marketing and Agribusiness LLC and CF Dallas.

"Salmonella can be spread by food handlers who do not wash their hands and/or the surfaces and tools they use between food preparation steps, and when people eat raw or undercooked foods. Salmonella can also spread from animals to people," the FDA says on its website. "Most people infected with Salmonella will begin to develop symptoms 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness, salmonellosis, usually lasts four to seven days and most people recover without treatment."

In addition to the cantaloupe recalls, the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service announced this week that the New Jersey company, Fratelli Beretta USA, Inc. was recalling over 11,00 pounds of "Busseto Foods brand ready-to-eat charcuterie meat products," due to concerns that they may be contaminated with salmonella.

"The products subject to recall bear establishment number "EST. 7543B" inside the USDA mark of inspection and "EST. #47967" printed with the lot and date codes. These items were shipped to Sam's Club distribution centers in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Texas," the announcement said. "The problem was discovered when FSIS was notified that a sample collected by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture tested positive for Salmonella."

Last month, the Quaker Oats Company recalled granola bars and granola cereals sold across the U.S. due to potential salmonella contamination.

The recalled products were sold in all 50 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, Guam and Saipan, according to the company. The recall included many of Quaker Oats' popular "Chewy Bars" and "Dipps," along with a number of its puffed granola cereals, simply granola, protein granola and granola bars. Some of the recalled products can also be found in Frito-Lay variety packs and Lunch Box Mix packs.