E. coli: Carrots recalled in Canada

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has posted a recall for both baby and whole organic carrot brands sold at multiple grocery stores due to E. coli contamination.

The Canada-wide recall includes Compliments, President's Choice, Bunny-Luv and Cal-Organic brands.

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The CFIA recall comes 24 hours after a similar notice was issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. South of the border, at least 39 people have become sick, and one person has died as a result.

University of Dalhousie Agri-Food Analytics Lab Prof. Sylvain Charlebois, who was initially puzzled by Canada's less than swift response, says, "These products are highly consumed in Canada and so you do wonder why the delay. You do wonder what is happening, why delay given the scope of the recall? We should have heard (sooner) from Canada's food safety agency."

The carrots were grown at Grimmway Farms in Bakersfield, Calif., which lists itself as the largest carrot grower in the world on its website.

Charlebois believes the E. coli outbreak is likely due to the drought conditions in California plaguing multiple crops in the U.S. state.

Some farms have been "forced to get water far from their operations, and sometimes they got water close to pastures where livestock were being produced and that's where E. coli comes from – it comes from animal waste," shares Charlebois.

In an email Monday night, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency told CTV News, "The CFIA is working closely with U.S. authorities and is monitoring the situation."

If you have organic carrots from Compliments, PC, Bunny-Luv or Cal-Organic brands in your fridge, with best before dates ranging between Aug. 14 and Nov. 12, they could be contaminated with E. coli.

Believe you may have a recalled item in your fridge? When in doubt throw it out. As an alternative, you should be able to return a recalled food product to the store you purchased it at. Even if you've already eaten a few carrots out of the bag, you're entitled to a full refund.