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HEALTH HAZARD ALERT

COOKED APPLE SNAIL MEAT AND APPLE SNAIL MEAT MAY CONTAIN SALMONELLA BACTERIA

OTTAWA, April 10, 2006 - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public not to consume the Cooked Apple Snail Meat and Apple Snail Meat products described below because these products may be contaminated with Salmonella.

The following products, imported from Vietnam, are sold frozen in 400 g packages. All Production Date codes and Best Before codes of the following products are affected by this alert.

These products are known to have been distributed in Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba but may have been distributed in other provinces. There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these products.

Food contaminated with Salmonella may not look or smell spoiled. Consumption of food contaminated with this bacteria may cause salmonellosis, a foodborne illness. In young children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems, salmonellosis may cause serious and sometimes deadly infections. In otherwise healthy people, salmonellosis may cause short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Long-term complications may include severe arthritis.

The affected products are being recalled from the marketplace. The CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall.

For more information, consumers and industry can call the CFIA at 1 800 442-2342 / TTY 1 800 465-7735 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday).

For information on Salmonella, visit the Food Facts web page at www.inspection.gc.ca./english/corpaffr/foodfacts/fftoce.shtml#tipcon.

For information on receiving recalls by electronic mail, or for other food safety facts, visit our web site at www.inspection.gc.ca.

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