Tag Archives: Hepatitis

Recall

FDA and CDC Investigating Non-Viral Hepatitis Potentially Linked to ‘Real Water’ Brand Alkaline Water

By Food Safety Tech Staff
No Comments
Recall

–UPDATE April 19, 2021 — The FDA continues to investigate reports of acute non-viral hepatitis in Nevada associate with consumption of “Real Water” brand alkaline water. “The FDA has become aware that “Real Water” brand alkaline water is still being offered for sale through online retailers. The agency is working to locate any remaining products to ensure they are no longer available to consumers,” FDA stated in an email update. “The FDA will continue to monitor this situation closely and follow up with retailers as we become aware of recalled products being offered for sale.”

–END UPDATE–

The FDA and CDC are investigating reports of acute non-viral hepatitis in consumers that has a common link to “Real Water” brand alkaline water. The agency is in the beginning stages of the investigation and notes that more products could be connected to the outbreak. The acute non-viral hepatitis cases affected infants and children, resulted in acute liver failure and occurred in November 2020, but FDA was alerted to the cases on March 13, 2021.

The manufacturer, Arizona-based Real Water, Inc., stated that the issue occurred in Las Vegas and is recalling the product. FDA pulled information from the company’s website stating that the five-gallon containers are delivered to homes in Honolulu; Orange County, Ventura and Santa Barbara, California; St. George, Utah; and Tucson, Arizona. The agency also states that Real Water is packaged and sold in various sizes including 1 gallon, 1 liter and 1.5 liter plastic bottles.

FDA is urging consumers, restaurants and retailers against drinking, cooking with, selling or serving the “Real Water” alkaline water until more information is revealed about the illnesses.

Alec Senese, Bayer Crop Science, Digital Pest Management
Bug Bytes

Did You Know a Cockroach Could Survive for a Month without Its Head?

By Alec Senese
No Comments
Alec Senese, Bayer Crop Science, Digital Pest Management

Like most insects, cockroaches have multiple nervous centers. When they lose their head, the rest of the body will continue to operate separately. In fact, a roach could live indefinitely without its heads if it didn’t need its mouth to eat and drink.

Register now for the complimentary webinar: New Technology’s Impact on Pest Management in the FSMA Regulated World | March 5, 2020 | 12 pm ETIn case you were curious, the following are five fun roach facts to keep in your back pocket for the holiday parties you’ll be attending this year. However, you may want to wait until after dinner has been served to bring these up in conversation…

  1. Roaches are incredibly fast little creatures, running about three miles per hour, or 50 times the distance of their bodies, in a single second. They are also the fastest in the animal kingdom at turning their body. They can make 25 turns per second!
  2. Cockroaches have been known to survive without important resources for much longer than most organisms. They can survive up to three months without food, a month without water, up to 45 minutes without air and can handle radiation levels up to 15 times higher than a human.
  3.  Not only do roaches spread multiple diseases that are dangerous to humans through their feces like Salmonella, shigellosis and hepatitis, they produce allergens that can trigger asthma attacks.
  4.  There’s a sci-fi like relationship between the cockroach and the jewel wasp. A jewel wasps sting can paralyze a cockroach long enough to administer a sting in the roach’s brain. This will give the wasp control over the roach’s escape reflex. The wasp then proceeds to drag the roach back to its nest, lay her eggs in the roach’s body and then allows her hatchlings to feed off the roach and build cocoons inside its body. Yikes. If there was ever a time to feel sorry for a roach, this is it.
  5. Ever heard of Louisiana’s cockroach tea? Cockroaches have been used for healing purposes in many areas of the world. They have been utilized for tetanus remedies in Louisiana, burn treatment and gastroenteritis alleviation in China.

The cockroach is currently being studied for potential uses in prosthetics, antibiotics and more.
The cockroach is an amazing creature, but they are less admirable when they inhabit areas where their presence can present risks to health and business.

Resources

  1. Smirnova, E. An Illustrated Guide to Cockroaches.
  2. How cockroaches could save lives”. (November 3, 2015). BBC News. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34517443