Andalos brand pastry products are under recall in Canada because they have been linked to an outbreak of Salmonella infections that has sickened dozens of people.
Some of the pastry products were sold under the Andalos brand, but others were sold without any brand indicated on their packaging. The products are being recalled because they contain pistachios, which have been determined to be the source of the Salmonella that is making people sick.
Most of the pastry products are various kinds of baklava, but there are also knafeh ashta, knafeh nabulseyeh, qatayef, znoud el sett, and cheaibiyet. For a complete list of recalled products and photos of three of the recalled pastries, click here.
Products already under recall are:
Habibi Food Centre brand Pistachio
Dubai brand Pistachio & Knafeh Milk Chocolate
As of Aug. 6, there were 52 confirmed patients in the outbreak: 39 in Quebec, nine in Ontario, three in British Columbia and 1 in Mantoba, according to Public Health Canada. Nine of the patients have been hospitalized. The patients range in age from 2 to 89 years old. People became sick between early March and mid-July.
Many people who became sick reported eating pistachios, and products containing pistachios, such as Dubai-style chocolate. The outbreak strains of Salmonella that made people sick were found in samples of the recalled Habibi brand pistachios.
More recent illnesses may continue to be reported because there is a period between when a person becomes sick and when the illness is reported to public health officials. It can take more than a month from the time someone gets sick, sees a doctor, gets tested, and has their results confirmed. For this outbreak, the illness reporting period is between 15 and 55 days after illness onset, according to the health agency.
The actual number of sick people in Canada is likely much higher. Many people have mild symptoms and don’t go to the doctor, so they aren’t tested. Researchers estimate that for each case of Salmonella reported to public health, there are 26 more cases that are not reported.
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