'Do Not Eat Honey Smacks,' CDC Warns

Do not eat Kellogg's Honey Smacks, warns the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. As of July 12, at least 100 people since March have reported becoming sick after eating the sweetened puffed wheat breakfast cereal in what CDC officials are calling a multi-state salmonella outbreak.

Two people in Oregon reported sickness after eating the cereal, though a majority of those affected (11) have been in New York state. All told, 100 people from 33 states across the U.S. have become ill, the CDC reported. Thirty of those people required hospitalization.

The Kellogg Company on June 14 reportedly issued a recall for "all Honey Smacks products that were on the market within the cereal’s one-year shelf-life," about three months after the first illnesses were reported. Since the CDC update acknowledging the recall on June 14, 27 more people from 19 states were added to growing list of those sickened by Honey Smacks.

Investigating the source of the outbreak, CDC officials said a strain of Salmonella Mbandaka was found in an unopened bag of Honey Smacks taken from a retail store in California. Independent tests of Honey Smacks collected from the homes of people who reported illness in Montana, New York, and Utah also found traces of Salmonella Mbandaka.

For more information on the recall, the time it takes to positively report a salmonella-linked illness, or to see a map of the states where the outbreak has been documented, visit cdc.gov.

Image via Center for Disease Control and Prevention