Salmonella Scare in Canada

After the commotion about cereal not dissolving in milk in the US, it is now the turn of a health warning in Canada. Canadian authorities, specifically the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a warning to the Canadian public that some of the sesame seeds available currently in Canadian grocery stores could be possibly infected with salmonella. The warning has been issued in association with Johnvince Foods.

The seeds in question are of the Quik Kook White Sesame brand. These seeds come in eight-kilogram bags. They are sold to retail outlets in different Canadian states, including Nova Scotia, Ontario, and even Quebec. The major outlets in question are Sobeys and Loblaws.

The CFIA, while issuing these alerts, is also advising people to find out from the place they bought the seeds from whether their packages had any chances of containing contaminated seeds. The cut off date being given by the agency is June 1. Any seeds of the brand named, bought on June 1 or any day after that had chances of being infected, the agency said.

The main problem in detecting whether food has been contaminated by salmonella is that it does not become spoilt. It does not look spoilt, and also does not have any bad smell, a sign commonly occurring when food gets contaminated.

Eating food infected by salmonella can cause salmonellosis. Salmonellosis can be lethal in the case of children and aged people. Another category of people who can succumb to this infection is adults with a weak immune system. The common symptoms of salmonellosis include headache, nausea, high fever, pain in the abdomen, vomiting, and also diarrhea.

The CFIA has also release the product codes of the bags in question. The bags with the suspected contaminated seeds have the UPC code 0 58877 16585 8. The lot codes in question have also been established. These are 71131, 71141, and 71481.