Pennsylvania’s Niagara Bottling company has initiated an voluntary recall of 14 brands of bottled water, sold mostly under store names, over fears that the products might be contaminated with the E. coli bacteria.
11 states are affected by the recall. The states include Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Vermont, Virginia, and North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.
Through a statement the company says that its bottling sources in its Hamburg and Allentown facilities may have become “compromised,” and it is recalling the product “out of an abundance of caution.”
The recalled products have inventory codes which begin with an “F” (for the Hamburg facility) and an “A” (for Allentown).
An example of what code to look for would be: “A610JUN15 2000.” Which stands for, “Allentown line 6, manufactured on June 10, 2015 at 8 p.m.”
The following brands are being recalled:
- 7-Eleven
- Acadia
- Acme
- Big Y
- Best Yet
- Morning Fresh
- Niagara
- Nature’s Place
- Pricerite
- Shaw’s
- Shoprite
- Superchill
- Western Beef Blue
- Wegman’s
The company says not to use the water, but if customers must, they should boil the water for one minute then allow it to thoroughly cool before use.
The contamination was found on June 10, but the company claims that the Niagara main office wasn’t informed until this week about the possible problem.
E. coli can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches, or other symptoms. If anyone thinks they are sick from drinking contaminated water, they should immediately contact a doctor.
E. coli, or Escherichia coli, is a bacteria found in the environment, foods, and intestines of people and animals. In some cases it can be fatal.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston, or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.