One person has died and 39 others have been infected in an E. coli outbreak traced to bagged organic carrots, the federal CDC announced on the Sunday before Fortune’s Nov. 18, 2024 report. Fifteen of the sick were hospitalized. Cases were spread across 18 states.
The carrots came from Grimmway Farms of Bakersfield, California, which has recalled them. Both whole and baby carrots are covered, and they were sold under a long list of labels, among them Trader Joe’s, Wegmans, Cal-Organic and Nature’s Promise, plus 365 and O-Organics. Scripps News, citing the recall notice, said the bags sold from roughly August until October ended. The FDA lists best-by dates on the recalled baby carrots that start at Sept. 11 and stop at Nov. 12.
Where the illnesses are
The CDC said New York, Minnesota and Washington hold most of the patients, with California and Oregon next. Infections have turned up in states across the country. Officials say the carrots are gone from store shelves, but that is not the end of the matter. Bags bought earlier may still be sitting in a fridge or freezer, and the CDC is telling people to throw them out, not to eat them.
Symptoms usually begin three to four days after someone swallows the bacteria. They include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea that is often bloody, and vomiting. Anyone with severe symptoms should see a doctor and say what they ate. Most people recover within a week, but in rare cases the infection leads to hemolytic uremic syndrome, a condition that can bring kidney failure, lasting damage and death. Young children, the elderly and people whose immune systems are weak face the highest risk of serious or fatal illness, the FDA says.
A bad few months for produce
This is not an isolated case. In October more than 100 McDonald’s customers fell ill from E. coli linked to slivered onions. In Britain, one person died in June in an outbreak tied to lettuce; 275 people at minimum fell ill. Organic walnuts caused E. coli infections in 19 states in April.
Fortune reported that experts still regard the food supply as generally safe, though little progress has been made in bringing E. coli infections down. Which step on the carrots’ path to the shelf went wrong is not yet clear from what has been published so far.
Sources
- 1 dies and dozens are sickened after eating organic carrots contaminated with E. coli (Fortune)
- Organic carrots recalled from multiple stores after a deadly E. coli outbreak (Scripps News)
