Henry Raymond
Fairfax News => Current News & Events => Topic started by: Henry on October 02, 2012, 01:03:24 PM
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Just got a call from Costco because some of the recalled smoked salmon was purchased on my Costco Card. I believe Mary Kay used my card to purchase it, thus the call to me:
12:04PM EST October 2. 2012 - THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- Smoked salmon tainted with salmonella bacteria has sickened hundreds of people in the Netherlands and the U.S., sparking a major recall, health authorities said Tuesday.
The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment said the salmon has been traced to Dutch company Foppen, which sells fish to many major Dutch supermarkets and to stores around the world, including the U.S.
Company spokesman Bart de Vries said in the U.S. the company sells only to wholesaler Costco and that Costco would deal with any U.S. recall.
Roel Vincken of the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, which carried out tests confirming the salmonella outbreak, said he had no information on a U.S. recall.
The Dutch National Institute said about 200 people -- and likely more -- in the Netherlands and more than 100 people in the U.S. have been sickened.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday it was in the "very preliminary stages" of its investigation and has no figures on illnesses.
Foppen also estimated the number of infections was higher. Company spokesman Bart de Vries said that since the company set up a public information phone line two days ago, some 1,400 people had called and around 350 of the callers "reported symptoms consistent with a salmonella infection.
"Those infected by the salmonella bacteria can suffer symptoms including fever, vomiting and diarrhea.
De Vries said the company did not believe contaminated fish had been sold to any other countries. Foppen, which processes fish in the Netherlands and at a factory in Greece, is investigating the cause of the outbreak.
"The investigation into the cause is under way and has been narrowed down to one production line at one factory (in Greece)," De Vries told The Associated Press. "We can't yet say what the cause of the infection was."
Foppen has halted all production of smoked salmon until the investigation is completed, he added.
Contributing: USA TODAY reporter Elizabeth Weise
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Yes, Lucky me........ Let's just say I only had 4 small squares and I did not feel so well for several days and just thought I was fighting a stomach bug. I did actually throw it out last weekend as the smoked salmon was going to expire while I was out of town this week, PHEW!