Salmonella

Do not eat any Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal, warns CDC

CDC advises consumers and retailers not to eat, serve, or sell any Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal, which is linked to a Salmonella outbreak and continues to make people sick. An update has been posted at https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/mbandaka-06-18/index.html

Updates:

  • Since the last update on July 12, 2018, 30 more illnesses have been reported, bringing the total to 130 cases from 36 states.Kellogg's Honey Smacks Cereal
  • Thirty-four people have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.
  • Three more states reported ill people: Delaware, Maine, and Minnesota.
  • FDA reports that recalled Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal is still being sold in some locations, despite the recall earlier this summer.
  • Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal has a shelf life of one year and could still be in many homes.
  • Illnesses in this outbreak started on dates ranging from March 3, 2018 to August 7, 2018.
  • People get sick from Salmonella 12 to 72 hours after swallowing the germ and experience diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps.
  • Most people recover within a week, but some illnesses can last longer and be more severe.
  • This investigation is ongoing and CDC will provide more information as it becomes available.

Advice to consumers:

  • Do not eat any Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal. This advice applies to Honey Smacks in any size package and with any “best if used by” date.
  • Retailers should not serve or sell any Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal. It could be contaminated with Salmonella and make people sick.  The Kellogg Company recalled Honey Smacks cereal on June 14, 2018.
  • Check your pantry to see if you have any Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal in your home. If you have any  of this cereal:
    • Throw out the cereal or return it for a refund.
    • If you store cereal that looks like Kellogg’s Honey Smacks in a container without the packaging and don’t remember the brand or type, throw it away. Kellogg’s Honey Smacks is an oval-shaped, sweetened puffed wheat cereal with a golden brown color.
    • Thoroughly wash the container with warm, soapy water before using it again, to remove harmful germs that could contaminate other food.
  • If you see Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal for sale, do not buy it. Report any recalled product being offered for sale to the FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinator in your state: https://www.fda.gov/Safety/ReportaProblem/ConsumerComplaintCoordinators/default.htm.

If you have further questions about this outbreak, please call the CDC media line at (404) 639-3286. If you have questions about cases in a particular state, please call that state’s health department.

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