By Duane Grandbois

Pineapple Chunks Recall in BC: Hepatitis ‘A’ Warning

Sep 2, 2017 | 9:32 AM

The BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) is warning consumers that Hepatitis A virus has been detected in a sample of Western Family brand fresh pineapple chunks sold in ready-to-go cups.

Current information indicates the cups were produced on August 11th and distributed to 38 Save-On-Foods, Overwaitea Foods and PriceSmart Foods stores in BC. (A list is at the bottom of this release.)

The fruit cups may have been on sale from August 11th and had a best before date of August 19th.

The investigation is ongoing. Other products are believed to be affected and more information will be provided as it becomes available.

What you can do
Hepatitis A vaccine can prevent hepatitis A infection if given within 14 days after exposure.

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If you consumed this product on August 18th or later, you should receive a dose of hepatitis A vaccine.
If you develop symptoms of hepatitis A, contact your family doctor and local health unit office immediately.
Consumers who have frozen the product should discard it.

No illness has been reported to date.

Hepatitis A is an infection caused by a virus that affects the liver. The virus is found in the stool of an infected person. It is spread when a person eats food or drinks water that has come in contact with infected stool. Infected food handlers can pass the virus on to other people if they do not wash their hands with soap and water after using the bathroom.

Hepatitis A symptoms include yellow skin or eyes, loss of appetite, fever, tiredness, stomach ache, nausea, dark coloured urine, and light or whitish coloured bowel movements. Symptoms can also be so mild that a person may not be aware that they have the disease. Illness can last for several weeks but people generally recover completely. Illness may be life threatening in the elderly or those with other chronic liver disease. Symptoms may develop 15-50 days after exposure.

For information about free hepatitis A vaccine in your health authority if you consumed the product within the last 14 days:

Interior Health: https://www.interiorhealth.ca/pages/default.aspx

A free hepatitis A vaccine can also be offered at any Overwaitea banner stores including Save-On-Foods, PriceSmart Foods, Overwaitea Foods and Urban Fare. Please contact the pharmacist at any of these stores for more information.

Stores where the product was sold:

Save-on-Foods, 300 – 32700 S. Fraser Way (West Oaks Mall), Abbotsford BC, V2T 4M5
Save-on-Foods, 2388 Whatcom Road, Abbotsford BC, V3G 0C1
Save-on-Foods, 3433 North Road, Burnaby BC, V3J 0A9
Save-on-Foods, 4469 Kingsway (Old Orchard Shopping Mall), Burnaby BC, V5H 1Z9
PriceSmart Foods, 4650 Kingsway, Burnaby BC, V5H 4L9
Save-on-Foods, 200 – 7155 Kingsway, Burnaby BC, V5E 2V1
Save-on-Foods, 4399 Lougheed Hwy, Burnaby BC, V5C 3Y7
Save-on-Foods, 46020 Yale Road (Salish Plaza), Chilliwack BC, V2P 7V2
Save-on-Foods, 45635 Tamihi Way, Chilliwack BC, V2R 0M4
Save-on-Foods, 2991 Lougheed Highway (Pinetree Village), Coquitlam BC, V3B 6J6
Save-on-Foods, 7015 – 120th Street (Scottsdale Centre), Delta BC, V4E 2A9
Save-on-Foods, 181 Trans-Canada Highway, Duncan BC, V9L 3P8
Save-on-Foods, 10345 100th Street, Fort St. John BC, V1J 3Z2
Overwaitea, 1020 10th Avenue South, PO Box 409, Golden BC, V0A 1H0
Save-on-Foods, #9 – 2101 E. Trans Canada Hwy, Kamloops BC, V2C 4A6
Save-on-Foods, 200-450 Lansdowne Street, Kamloops BC, V2C 1Y3
Save-on-Foods, #10 – 301 Highway 33 W., Kelowna BC, V1X 1X8
Save-on-Foods, 20151 Fraser Highway, Langley BC, V3A 4E4
Save-on-Foods, 8840 – 210 Street, Langley BC, V1M 2Y2
Save-on-Foods, #1 – 20255 – 64th Avenue, Langley BC, V2Y 1M9
Save-on-Foods, 23981 Dewdney Trunk Road, Maple Ridge BC, V4R 1W1
Save-on-Foods, #116 – 1700 Garcia Street, PO Box 144, Merritt BC, V1K 1B8
Save-on-Foods, 400 – 32555 London Avenue, Mission BC, V2V 6M7
Save-on-Foods, #600 – 333 Brooksbank Avenue (Park & Tilford Gardens), North Vancouver BC, V7J 3S8
Save-on-Foods, #161 – 2111 Main Street (Cherry Lane Shopping Centre), Penticton BC, V2A 6W6
Save-on-Foods, 5232 Domano Blvd, Prince George BC, V2N 4A1
Save-on-Foods, 100, 1600 – 15th Avenue (Parkwood Plaza), Prince George, V2L 3X3
Save-on-Foods, 555 Central Street (Spruceland Mall), Prince George BC, V2M 3C6
Save-on-Foods, 3885 W. Austin Road, Prince George BC, V2K 2H7
Save-on-Foods, 555 Victoria Road, PO Box 512, Revelstoke BC, V0E 2S0
PriceSmart Foods, 8200 Ackroyd Road, Richmond BC, V6X 1B5
Save-on-Foods, 3000 – 11666 Steveston Hwy, Richmond BC, V7A 5J3
Save-on-Foods, 2345 Beacon Avenue, Sidney BC, V8L 1W9
Overwaitea, 113 Red Cedar Drive, PO Box 790, Sparwood BC, V0B 2G0
Save-on-Foods, 1301 Pemberton (Chieftain Mall), Squamish BC, V8B 0A1
Save-on-Foods, 10312 King George Boulevard, Surrey BC, V3T 2W5
Save-on-Foods, 4731 Lakelse Avenue (Skeena Mall), Terrace BC, V8G 1R5
Save-on-Foods, #255 – 2306 Highway 6, Vernon BC, V1T 7E3

Information about hepatitis A and vaccine:

https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/healthlinkbc-files/hepatitis-vaccine
http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/diseases-conditions/hepatitis-a
http://www.immunizebc.ca/diseases-vaccinations/hepatitis-a

by Duane Grandbois