The imported tahini paste that was linked to two Salmonella illnesses in Minnesota children last week has now been connected to a nationwide outbreak affecting at least eight people, health officials report. Cases have occurred in six states, including California (1 case), Minnesota (2), North Dakota (1), New York (1), Texas (2) and Wisconsin (1), according to
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which issued an outbreak alert Wednesday.The first patient fell ill on March 4, 2013, and the most recent illness onset was April 30. CDC notes that illnesses that occurred after May 10 may not yet have been recorded due to the delay between when a person falls ill and when their case is reported. None of the victims have been hospitalized. The source of the illnesses is thought to be tahini sesame paste made by Krinos Foods, LLC of Long Island City, New York. Krinos issued a voluntary recall of the product on April 28 for potential Salmonella contamination, and expanded that recall May 9 after more samples tested positive for Salmonella. Both outbreak strains of Salmonella – S. Montevideo and S. Mbandaka – were isolated from samples of the recalled paste. Salmonella Montevideo was isolated from a sample collected by the Michigan Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration detected Salmonella Mbandaka in a sample of Krinos’ tahini paste arriving in the U.S. for distribution. The recalled lots of tahini paste have expiration dates between January 1, 2014 and June 8, 2014; or between October 16, 2014 and March 15, 2015. However, CDC is recommending that consumers don’t eat any sesame tahini paste produced by Krinos.
