WASHINGTON, July 19, 2007
Hot Dog Chili Sauce Linked To Botulism
FDA Urges Consumers To Toss Certain Cans Made By Castleberry's; Four People Hospitalized
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(AP / CBS)
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Four people were hospitalized. The warning applies to 10-ounce cans of Castleberry's, Austex and Kroger brands of hot dog chili sauce with "best by" dates from April 30, 2009, through May 22, 2009, the Food and Drug Administration said. It wasn't immediately clear how widely the products were distributed.
The contamination by the toxin is extremely rare for a commercially canned product. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention medical epidemiologist Dr. Michael Lynch said the last such U.S. case dates to the 1970s. The roughly 25 cases reported each year typically involved home-canned foods, Lynch said.
The victims — two each in Texas and Indiana — were seriously ill but expected to survive. The Texas cases involved children who are siblings. The Indiana cases involved an adult couple. No other details were available.
The products were made by the Castleberry's Food Co., owned by Bumble Bee Seafoods LLC, based in San Diego.
"We are taking the recall as a precautionary measure until we fully understand the facts of these cases and determine the cause of any contamination," Dave Melbourne, Castleberry senior vice president of marketing, said in a statement.
FDA has sent experts to the Castleberry's plant in Augusta, Ga., where the products were canned, said Robert Brackett, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. The company is voluntarily recalling all potentially contaminated product and is cooperating with state and federal officials, Brackett added.
Botulism is a muscle-paralyzing disease caused by a toxin made by a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum, according to the CDC.
Brackett urged consumers to discard any of the recalled cans without opening them.
"The toxin is so potent if they get it on their hands or it sprays in their face, it could make them ill," he said.
Typically, commercially canned foods are heated long enough and to high enough temperatures to kill the spores.
"It's been a triumph of food safety that canning is safe. That's what makes this so unusual," Lynch said.
Symptoms of botulism include double or blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth and muscle weakness that moves down the body, according to the CDC.
Eventually, paralysis can cause a person to stop breathing and die, unless supported by a ventilator. Most victims eventually recover after weeks to months of care.
The recall covers the following universal product codes:
Consumers with questions may call the company toll-free at 888-203-8446.
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Add a Comment See all 21 Comments
- Yet another excuse to radiate food. A voluntary recall that you throw the product out. I say bring it back for a refund.
Posted by my2centss at 09:07 AM : Jul 19, 2007
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I'm with you!!! Why should the public get burned on this? - Reply to this comment
- hey snowjob i think this would help with your so call cancer in the head case you have been lieing about..
If you are talk to me - WHAT in the heck are you talking about?? - Reply to this comment
- If you have any of this krap I suggest to
mail it to the FDA or the white house.
who knows, it could be a tax deductible item. - Reply to this comment
- TAKE IT BACK TO THE STORE AND GET YOUR MONEY BACK!!!!
WHY THROW OUT WHAT YOU HAVE SPENT YOUR MONEY ON?
THEY KEEP YOUR MONEY FOR PROFIT ON THEIR BAD PRODUCT.
GET YOUR MONEY BACK!!!!!! - Reply to this comment
- it also causes a nasty case of wet butt
- Reply to this comment
- I prefer finely chopped cardboard with my fatty meats. The recipe we use is an ancient Chinese secret (shhhh)
- Reply to this comment
- please someone that has a few case somewhere please send to whitehouse for their party and lets have some fun watching all of them slowly get sick and die.
hey snowjob i think this would help with your so call cancer in the head case you have been lieing about.. - Reply to this comment
- Hot Dog Chili Sauce is actually the sauce that is left in the pot after cooking a dog.
The secret is in the consistency.
It is best when eaten fresh and not microwaved. - Reply to this comment
- Before anyone really freaks over this, I had some a week, ten days ago. No adverse affects, but check your pantry. If you have some, take it back to place of purchase.
- Reply to this comment
- "This chili sauce was made in San Diego."
"San Diego ????"
"Get a rope." - Reply to this comment
- "Brackett urged consumers to discard any of the recalled cans without opening them."
Bad advice.
Don't just throw them in the trash, where some homeless persons have been known to hunt around for food.
Take them back to the store. - Reply to this comment
- Hotdog chili sauce is basically chili flavored water. A real Texan eats his hotdog with real chili!
- Reply to this comment
- What the heck IS Hot Dog Chili Sauce??? Is it a big seller?? Must be a regional thing. Sounds gross, and looks even more disgusting... Yuk.
- Reply to this comment
- mmmmmmmm, Hot Dog Chili Sauce.
I love to get the toxin on my hands or spray in my face. - Reply to this comment
- I never even knew there were such a food, 'hot dog chili sauce'?! Even sounds like a killer... YUK!! BAARF!!
Go back to home cooking will ya! - Reply to this comment
- It might in fact be partially attributable to China - but due to competition with China.
Perhaps under pressure to produce enough fast enough to overcome China's vast advantage in labor rates and lack of regulatory laws, someone ran some mixers a little too long between sanitation cycles, or didn't clear the can lines far enough back when a mechanical failure stopped access to a retort or a hydrostatic sterilyzer... - Reply to this comment
- Blame it on China! Just say it was imported & re-labeled!
- Reply to this comment
- I say we execute the head of the FDA, USDA, the CEO of Bumblebee Seafoods and President Bush while we're at it. That should sove the problem...
- Reply to this comment
- Yeah what's this BS with throwing it out, I'd ship the can back to their head offices COD and demand a full fund.
- Reply to this comment
- Yet another excuse to radiate food. A voluntary recall that you throw the product out. I say bring it back for a refund.
- Reply to this comment
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
