Press Release 12/05/2007 #2

Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin is alerting Georgians to the recall of some flavored water that may be contaminated with bacteria that can cause sickness.

Soma Beverage of San Francisco, California is recalling all bottles of Metromint flavors Peppermint, Spearmint, Orangemint, and Lemonmint with Best Before 2008/12/21 and produced at its California facility because they may be contaminated with Bacillus cereus.

Products produced in the California facility have the lettering "KSA" in a rectangle located on the lower right-hand corner of the back panel on the label. The water was packaged in plastic 16.9 ounce bottles and was distributed nationwide to grocery stores and sold on the Internet.

The symptoms of Bacillus cereus food poisoning usually include onset of watery diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and pain six to 15 hours after consumption of contaminated food. Nausea may accompany diarrhea, but vomiting rarely occurs. Symptoms persist for 24 hours in most instances. The vomiting type of food poisoning associated with B. cereus is characterized by nausea and vomiting within 30 minutes to six hours after consumption of contaminated foods. Duration of symptoms is generally less than 24 hours. Infants, children and pregnant women are susceptible to dehydration resulting from diarrhea.

Consumers in possession of the recalled product should discard it or return it to the point of purchase. Individuals who think they may have become ill from eating these products should contact their health care provider for evaluation.

Consumers with questions may contact the company at 1-415-979-0781 Ext. 101.

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