On April 21, 2016, the CDC announced that they were concluding the investigation into Garden of Life Raw Meal Shakes. The shakes have been linked to an outbreak of Salmonella Virchow that sickened a total of 33 people across the United States. Six people required hospitalization, and there were no deaths reported. Cases of Salmonella poisoning began on December 5, 2015, and continued until March 18 , 2016. The CDC investigation was first announced on February 2.
There were over 20 states affected by the outbreak, including Alabama with 1 case, California with 2 cases, Florida with 1 case, Hawaii with 1 case, Illinois with 1 case, Massachusetts with 1 case, Maryland with 2 cases, Michigan with 1 case, Minnesota with 3 cases, New Jersey with 2 cases, New Mexico with 1 case, New York with 1 case, North Carolina with 2 cases, Ohio with 2 cases, Oklahoma with 1 case, Oregon with 1 case, Pennsylvania with 1 case, Rhode Island with 1 case, Tennessee with 1 case, Texas with 2 cases, Utah with 3 cases, West Virginia with 1 case, and Wisconsin with 1 case.
Shortly before the outbreak was announced, Garden of LIfe issued the first of two recalls for contaminated products. On January 29, Garden of Life issued a limited recall of several varieties of Raw Meal shakes. The recall was expanded on February to include more lots of product, and organic Moringa Leaf was removed from the list of ingredients. Although the outbreak has been considered over, the recalled products have long shelf lives and may still be in the homes of consumers. For a full list of recalled products, click here. If you or a loved one begins to show the symptoms of Salmonella poisoning, including nausea, abdominal cramping, fever, and diarrhea, contact a medical professional.
