Source | CDC

Public health officials in Indiana, Texas, and at CDC are investigating an outbreak of botulism associated with commercially-canned hot dog chili sauce. Foodborne botulism is a rare but serious paralytic illness caused by consuming foods that contain botulinum toxin, a nerve toxin that is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum.

Due to possible contamination with botulinum toxin, CDC and FDA are advising persons not to eat the following brands with “best by” dates from April 30, 2009 through May 22, 2009:

Castleberry’s Hot Dog Chili Sauce, 10-ounce can (UPC 3030000101);

Castleberry’s Austex Hot Dog Chili Sauce, 10-ounce can (UPC 3030099533);

Kroger Hot Dog Chili Sauce, 10-ounce can (UPC 1111083942);

Morton House Corned Beef Hash, 15-ounce can (UPC 7526665830);

Cattle Drive Chili With Beans, 15-ounce can (UPC 3030001515);

Southern Home Corned Beef Hash, 15-ounce can (UPC 0788015360);

Meijer Corned Beef Hash, 15-ounce can (UPC 4125095229);

Castleberry’s Chili With Beans, 15-ounce can (UPC 3030001015);

Castleberry’s Barbecue Pork, 10-ounce can (UPC 3030000402);

Bunker Hill Chili No Beans, 10-ounce can (UPC 7526604112).

Other foods that should be discarded are cans of the recalled product with missing or unreadable “best by” dates, foods that may have been prepared with a recalled product, and canned chili sauce, chili, corned beef hash, or barbecue pork of an unknown brand.

As of July 18, 2007, four cases of botulism have been reported to CDC from Indiana (2 cases) and Texas (2 cases). Onset dates range from June 29 to July 9, 2007.  All four persons were reported to have consumed Castleberry’s brand Hot Dog Chili Sauce Original. Botulinum toxin was identified in leftover chili sauce from an unlabeled sealable bag collected from a patient’s refrigerator.

CDC OutbreakNet (the network of epidemiologists and other public health officials, facilitated by CDC, who investigate outbreaks of foodborne, waterborne, and other enteric illnesses nationwide) staff shared this information with colleagues at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). After being informed about the outbreak by the FDA, the company that manufactures the Castleberry’s brand Hot Dog Chili Sauce and other products issued a voluntary recall on July 18, 2007.

Signs and symptoms of botulism include double vision, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, and muscle weakness. If untreated, the illness may progress from head to toe, with paralysis of the face, arms, breathing muscles, trunk, and legs. Paralysis of the breathing muscles can lead to death unless prompt medical care is sought. Symptoms generally begin 18 to 36 hours after eating a contaminated food, but they can occur as early as 6 hours or as late as 10 days.

Persons with any of these signs or symptoms who have eaten Castleberry’s brand Hot Dog Chili Sauce or any of the other recalled products are advised to immediately contact their health care provider.

Source | FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to eat 10 ounce cans of Castleberry’s Hot Dog Chili Sauce (UPC 3030000101), Austex Hot Dog Chili Sauce (UPC 3030099533), and Kroger Hot Dog Chili Sauce (UPC 1111083942) with “best by” dates from April 30, 2009 through May 22, 2009 due to possible botulism contamination. Botulism can be fatal. The “best by dates” can be found on the can lids.

Consumers who have any of these products or any foods made with these products should throw them away immediately. If the “best by” date is missing or unreadable consumers should throw the product out.

Two children in Texas and an Indiana couple who ate these products became seriously ill and have been hospitalized.

Symptoms of botulism poisoning can begin from 6 hours to 2 weeks after eating food that contains the toxin. Symptoms may include double vision, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, and muscle weakness that moves progressively down the body, affecting the shoulders first then descending to the upper arms, lower arms, thighs, calves, etc. Botulism poisoning can also cause paralysis of the breathing muscles which can result in death unless assistance with breathing (mechanical ventilation) is provided.

Individuals who show these symptoms and who may have recently eaten Castleberry’s Hot Dog Chili Sauce, Austex Hot Dog Chili Sauce, or Kroger Hot Dog Chili Sauce should seek immediate medical attention.

All of the above products are manufactured by the Castleberry Food Company in Augusta, Georgia.

Castleberry has informed FDA that it is voluntarily recalling all of the potentially contaminated products and is cooperating with FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the states’ active investigations into the cause of this contamination and scope of the products’ distribution.

Castleberry is also voluntarily recalling a numbr of products that are not under FDA’s regulatory authority. For a list of these products, visit: www.castleberrys.com/news_productrecall.asp.

FDA will provide updates as more information becomes available. Consumers can call the FDA at 1-888-723-3366.

35 Million Contact Lens Wearers at Small Risk of Serious Conditions

For the country’s estimated 35 million contact lens users, cleansing and replacing their lenses becomes a routine that is just as normal — and seemingly safe — as brushing their hair or flossing their teeth.

Just ask Paige Reichardt, of Valparaiso, Ind.., an ABCNews.com reader who says she wore her contacts for 48 years without any significant eye problems.

That changed in November 2005, when she contracted an aggressive parasitic infection in one of her eyes called Acanthamoeba keratitis, a disease for which 85 percent of victims are contact lens wearers.

Reichardt shared her chilling story on the ABCNews.com discussion boards.

“I was told on the first day that I was diagnosed that they would try to save my eye,” she said. “So I knew from the start that it was serious.”

The treatment, like the disease, was serious. While doctors fought for her eye, she says, she endured a number of unpleasant therapies. One of her medications was a diluted version of the same chemical used in swimming pool cleaners. “You can imagine how that feels,” she said.

When the treatments failed, Reichardt endured four corneal transplant surgeries in five weeks as the disease spread and continued to destroy her eye, bit by bit.

“It’s a diabolical disease,” she said. “I felt like I was in a science fiction movie because there was no way to kill these damn things.” In the end, Reichardt lost her eye to the disease.

Her case was one of 138 across the country that sparked a voluntary recall of the popular Advanced Medical Optics Complete MoisturePlus Multi-Purpose Solution for contacts last week.

The company insists there is no evidence that its product is contaminated with Acanthamoeba, which is normally found in soil and fresh water but rarely targets humans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has urged consumers, however, to throw away any bottles they still have.

It’s not the first time that contact lens solution has come under scrutiny; last year, investigators implicated Bausch & Lomb’s ReNu MoistureLoc solution in a rash of fungal eye infections that affected 164 contact wearers.

Read Full Article: ABCNews.com - Are Your Contact Lenses Safe?

Do I have a Complete® MoisturePlus™ Recall Lawsuit?

The Products Liability Litigation Group at our law firm is an experienced team of trial lawyers that focus exclusively on the representation of plaintiffs in Complete® MoisturePlus™ recall lawsuits. We are handling individual litigation nationwide and currently accepting new corneal infection (keratitis), including Acanthamoeba Keratitis cases in all 50 states.

Click Here: Our Experience

Source | FDA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — July 13, 2007, Gerber Products Company, a division of Novartis Consumer Health, is voluntarily recalling all packages of Gerber ORGANIC Rice and ORGANIC Oatmeal Cereals due to a potential choking risk. A limited quantity of product may contain lumps of cereal, which do not dissolve in water or milk and pose a potential choking hazard. Gerber has received choking complaints, but no reports of injury. The FDA is aware of this recall.

The product has been distributed in the United States, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. If a consumer has Gerber ORGANIC Rice or Gerber ORGANIC Oatmeal Cereal, they should not use the product and call the Gerber Parents Resource Center 1-800-443-7237 or 1-231-928-3000 to return the product and receive a full refund.

Gerber ORGANIC Rice and ORGANIC Oatmeal Cereals are sold in 8 ounce boxes and all codes are being recalled. Gerber ORGANIC Rice UPC Code is 15000 12504. Gerber ORGANIC Oatmeal UPC Code is 15000 12502. These numbers can be found on the bottom right side of the box.

Source | CORNEA - The Journal of Cornea and External Disease

Cornea. 26(6):701-706, July 2007.
Thebpatiphat, Nuthida MD; Hammersmith, Kristin M MD; Rocha, Fabiano N MD; Rapuano, Christopher J MD; Ayres, Brandon D MD; Laibson, Peter R MD; Eagle, Ralph C Jr MD; Cohen, Elisabeth J MD