An E. coli outbreak has been linked to bulk organic walnuts sold at Whole Foods, New Seasons, and other natural food stores and co-ops. Seven of the 12 people sickened have been hospitalized, two of them with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a form of kidney failure that is a complication of E.coli infections.
Six illnesses have been reported from California and six from Washington. The people sickened in this outbreak, who range in age from 6 to 84 years old, said they bought organic walnuts from bulk bins at food co-ops or natural food stores before they became ill. Two stores were linked to multiple illnesses.
Genetic tests performed on the E. coli cultured from patients revealed that the strains share a close resemblance meaning the patients were likely exposed to the same source of contamination.
Using shopping information from patients, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was able to identify walnuts produced by Gibson Farms Inc. of Hollister, CA as the source of the outbreak.
Gibson has issued a walnut recall that includes natural food stores and co-ops in 19 states.
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