US health officials have issued a stark warning against eating Honey Smacks, the popular Kellogg’s breakfast cereal, after it was linked to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 100 people in 33 states across the country in the past month.
“Do not eat any Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal, regardless of package size or best-by date,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advised consumers this week.
“Even if some of the cereal has been eaten and no one got sick, throw the rest of it away or return it for a refund,” the CDC advised.
Kellogg’s first issued a product recall on 14 June that warned of possible salmonella contamination.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it first learned of a cluster Salmonella mbandaka illnesses in multiple states on 17 May. Interviews with ill people allowed investigators to identify Honey Smacks as a possible source of the illnesses, triggering the recall.
But efforts to recall the product were not successful. Infections continued to climb, despite efforts by the FDA and CDC to warn consumers and retailers that the cereal has been recalled and should not be consumed or sold.
According to the FDA, the ages of those affected range from less than one year to 95 (median 57 years) and 68% of cases are female. Among 77 with available information, 30 (39%) have been hospitalized, the FDA said. No deaths have been reported.
The CDC continued its consumer advisory issued on 12 July, saying that in the event a cereal “looks like Kellogg’s Honey Smacks in a container without the packaging and don’t remember the brand or type, throw it away”.
