Health & Fitness
No E.Coli Cases Reported from Recalled Water in Maryland: Company
The company that supplies Giant, Wegmans, ShopRite, 7-Eleven, Acme and others with bottled water says water is safe, no illness reported.
By Justin Heinze and Deb Belt
The company that supplies several Maryland grocery stores with bottled water -- and issued a recall last week due to an E. coli scare -- said Monday no injuries or illnesses have been reported to date.
Niagara Bottling of Pennsylvania said it does not have numbers on how many bottles have been returned, but that the recall is complete.
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“There is no affected water on shelves,” said Stan Bratskeir, a Niagara spokesman.
The recall issued on water produced at the Hamburg and Allentown facilities between June 10 and June 18 was voluntary, said Bratskeir. “There have been no illnesses that we know of.”
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The recalled water was supplied to Wegmans, ShopRite, 7-Eleven, Acme,Giant and more on the East Coast.
Niagara does not know how many bottles produced while E. coli was present could still be on the shelves, if any, Bratskeir said.
The operator at one of Niagara’s contracted springs did not notify the company that there was evidence of E. Coli at the source for eight days, according to Bratskeir.
It is unclear why Niagara was not immediately notified by Far Away Springs, the Auburn, Pennsylvania-based contractor.
“Not telling us immediately was not only illegal, it was unethical,” Bratskeir said. “We have discontinued the use of this source.”
The recall was voluntary because the company confirmed that no E. coli bacteria was in any products that were packaged and delivered to their bottling facility.
Water is shipped in tankards to Niagara plants, where it goes through two forms of filtration.
The first, “micron filtration,” catches any physical impurities in the water in a sieve.
The second, “ozonation,” catches any chemical impurities.
“There was no health issue to begin with,” Bratskeir said. “This (recall) was done strictly out of an abundance of caution.”
Side effects of E. coli include diarrhea, cramping, and vomiting, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Far Away Springs did not immediately respond to comment on this story.
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