Potentially Fatal Product Recall For Food Sold At Walmart, Costco

When's the last time (if ever) you heard the word botulism, Massachusetts residents? It's not a word you typically hear a lot of nowadays. Well, there's a reason you don't normally hear that word in conversation. It's a very rare but very serious disease.

Botulism can cause paralysis, breathing difficulties, and even death. And botulism is once again part of the conversation due to a major nationwide food recall that involves a product sold at Walmart, Costco, Trader Joe's, Kroger, Publix, and other stores.

According to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), Tri-Union Seafoods has decided to voluntarily recall select lots of canned tuna products. These products are sold under several different brand names, so check your pantry after you look at the brand names listed below.

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According to the FDA, the impacted products were distributed to retail stores as follows:

• H-E-B label (Texas)
• Trader Joe's label
• Genova 7 oz.- Costco
• Genova 5 oz. - Harris Teeter, Publix, H-E-B, Kroger, Safeway, Walmart, and independent retailers
• Van Camp's label - Walmart and independent retailers

The FDA reports via the media alert:

The “easy open” pull tab can lid on limited products encountered a manufacturing defect that may compromise the integrity of the product seal (especially over time), causing it to leak, or worse, be contaminated with clostridium botulinum, a potentially fatal form of food poisoning.

Also, and this is very important, the FDA urges consumers to NOT use the product even if it looks or smells fine. Even if a can appears normal and doesn't smell spoiled, it could still be dangerous.

Symptoms of botulism poisoning include blurred vision, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, and muscle weakness to more severe symptoms such as respiratory failure and possibly death if not treated right away.

If you have any of the recalled cans, dispose of them immediately and contact Tri-Union Seafoods for a refund or replacement. Because there are so many brands affected by this recall, there is truly a wide variety of differing expiration dates, can codes, and UPC codes.

All of that information can be found within the initial media alert from the FDA. Please visit the website here for more specific information regarding all of the various brand names. Thanks for the heads-up, FDA!