Lake County warns consumers about canned meat products

The Lake County Health Department is warning residents not to buy certain recalled canned meat products that could contain botulism toxins, after finding such a product at an area store.

The 10-ounce can of Castleberry's brand Onion Hot Dog Chili Sauce, found at a Round Lake Beach Super K-mart, is among a line of canned products the Castleberry Food Company voluntarily recalled due to possible botulism contamination.

Health officials said they don't fault K-mart for carrying the product and will not cite the store.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued alerts about the products' nationwide recall early last week. Local health departments were informed Friday these products were distributed in Illinois. More items have been added to the recall list.

"Because the recall was just recently expanded, local health departments are having to go back out into the field and check stores," said Melanie Arnold, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health.

She said some of the recalled items may likely be found in other counties.

The Lake County Health Department is contacting the roughly 565 permitted retail food facilities to pull products on the recall list from shelves.

Discount stores and other retail facilities, such as hardware stores, that don't require permits to sell canned foods still could be carrying the contaminated products, said Larry Mackey, the department's food program coordinator.

"It seems those products are more likely to be in those locations, in the discount-type stores," he said. "We're going to visit those (places) this afternoon and hopefully tomorrow morning. We also are visiting some of the larger permitted places."

Four cases of botulism -- two in Indiana and two in Texas -- are suspected to be linked to the canned Castleberry products. No cases are reported in Lake County or Illinois.

There was one case of food-borne botulism illness in Illinois in 2006. Nationally, 25 to 40 cases are reported annually.

"The reason why this becomes more serious is because botulism is such a serious illness," Mackey said. "It's more akin to poisoning. It causes neurological problems, fatigue, weakness."

Symptoms of botulism poisoning in humans can begin from 6 hours to 2 weeks after eating the toxic food. They may include double vision, blurred vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, difficulty swallowing, and muscle weakness that moves progressively down the body. Botulism poisoning can also cause paralysis of breathing muscles, which can result in death unless breathing assistance is provided.

A complete list of the recalled products is found on the Illinois Department of Public Health's Web site, http://www.idph.state.il.us/public/press07/7.23.RecalledProducts.pdf.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers tips for anyone who has eaten recalled products and instructions for safe disposal of such products on its Web site, http://www.cdc.gov/botulism/botulism_faq.htm.