Botulism Forces Plant Closed and Recall of More Than 90 Canned Products

Pete Strom

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(866) 735-1102 Ext 590

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Production at Castleberry's Food Company has stopped due to cans testing positively for botulism. Four reported cases of botulism can be traced back to Castleberry's products. Each of the four people with botulism consumed Hot Dog Chili Sauce Original. This botulism outbreak led Castleberry's to expand its previous recall of canned meat products.

It recalled more than 80 types of canned chili, beef stew, corned beef hash and other meat products in addition to the 10 brands it has recalled Thursday. Company officials said they were working closely with the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture to determine just how widespread the problem is, but they could not provide information about what quantity of the products in question are still on store shelves.

Botulism is a rare but very serious illness that is produced by bacterium. Symptoms of the illness include double vision, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, and muscle weakness. If botulism goes untreated, the illness can cause paralysis of the arms, legs, trunk and respiratory muscles. Botulism caused by consumed contaminated food products usually occur 18 to 36 hours after eating the contaminated food, but can occur anywhere from 6 hours to10 days after consumption.

As an attorney who has experience handling food poisoning and contamination cases, my heart goes out to those already affected by the Botulism outbreak.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Defective and Dangerous Products.