Coconut Salmonella Outbreak Sickens 13 In 8 States

LAKEWOOD, CO -- A Salmonella outbreak tied to raw organic coconut slices has sickend 13 people in eight states, including one person in Colorado, the Colorado Department of Health and the Environment said Wednesday.

Lakewood-based Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Markets, Inc. announced a March 17 recall of Natural Grocers brand 10-ounce Coconut Smiles Organic because they had found some product that contained Salmonella organisms.

One person in Colorado who ate the coconut product was diagnosed with Salmonella but recovered and was not hospitalized, the CDHE said.

The 10 oz. bags of Coconut Smiles Organic product were distributed to 145 Natural Grocers stores located in Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Consumers can find the specific locations of the Natural Grocers stores in those states at: https://www.naturalgrocers.com/storelocations/store-directory/.

The company gave this warning regarding Salmonella:

Salmonella [is] an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.

Image via Natural Grocers