County resident contracts botulism - Case may be related to canned chili

According to the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA), a 51-year-old San Diego County woman has a confirmed case of botulism. The woman reported that she developed symptoms a week after purchasing and eating Kroger Chili with Beans. This product is manufactured by Castleberry’s Food Company, which recently issued a voluntary recall of canned products under a number of different brands.

The woman was hospitalized for 10 days and is now recovering at home. The chili was thrown away before HHSA Public Health Services could perform tests to determine if the product was the definitive cause of the botulism.

Consumers are encouraged to check their cupboards for any of the recalled products. Do not consume the items. If you have symptoms, please keep product for testing; otherwise, throw all recalled products away. A list of products voluntarily recalled by Castleberry’s is available at http://www.castleberrys.com/news_productrecall.asp.

For more information, call HHSA Community Epidemiology at (619) 515-6620.