Updated advice on Honey Smacks, as cereal continues to be found on shelves

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its advice on Kellogg’s Honey Smacks Cereal, after the produce was withdrawn on 14 June of this year. Since the last update on July 12, 2018, a further 30 people have been taken ill. To date, 130 people drawn from 36 US states infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Mbandaka.

The outbreak began from 3 March of this year and has affected individuals aged from under one to 95. Of the 98 people with information available, 34 (35 per cent) have been hospitalised. No deaths have been reported.

The CDP points out that illnesses that occurred after August 4, 2018 might not yet have been reported, as the period between illness developing and the reporting of it takes on average two to four weeks. In an investigation update, CPD said that State and local health officials continue to interview ill people and ask questions about the foods they ate and other exposures in the week before they became ill. In interviews, 61 (77 per cent) of 79 people specifically reported eating Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal. Ill people in the outbreak reported this brand of cereal more often than any other cereals or food items.

Although the Kellogg Company re-called all Honey Smacks products  within the cereal’s one-year shelf-life back in July, CDP says Honey Smacks products with earlier dates could also potentially be contaminated and that the cereal is still being sold. It advises, “Do not eat Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal of any size package or with any ‘best if used by’ date.”