Niagara Bottling has issued a voluntary recall over spring water bottled at two Pennsylvania plants between June 10 and June 18 after one of its spring sources tested positive for E. coli.
The company has received no complaints from consumers nor reports of illnesses, it says. No E. coli has been detected in finished products, either, but “we immediately shut down our operations, disinfected our bottling lines and initiated a voluntary recall in an abundance of caution and in the interests of consumer safety,” Niagara explained in a statement.
E. coli is a bacteria that lives in the intestines of humans and other animals; most varieties are harmless or cause only limited diarrhea, but a few strains can cause bloody diarrhea, vomiting, severe abdominal cramping and even kidney failure. Young children, older adults and people with compromised immune systems are particularly vulnerable to these ill effects.
The company is recommending that consumers either return bottles of water that may have been affected or boil the water for at least a minute before drinking it. The water was sold in 15 states under 14 different brand labels: Acadia, Acme, Big Y, Best Yet, 7-11, Niagara, Nature’s Place, PriceRite, Superchill, Morning Fresh, Shaws, Shoprite, Western Beef Blue and Wegmans.
Products covered by the recall can be identified by their codes. Included codes begin with either F (indicating production at the Hamburg plant) or A (for Allentown). The water produced in the covered range will have a “best by” date between Dec. 8 and Dec. 16, 2016. Wegmans products only will have a “best by” date of June 13 through June 16, 2016.
“If you don’t see your product on the list, it was completely unaffected by the recall and is completely safe to drink,” the company’s official notice to customers reads.
Of course, even tap water isn’t 100% safe; more than 2,100 known contaminants can be present in tap water. But most of those cause few health concerns and can be removed with a simple filtration system.
Consumers can reach Niagara at 888-943-4894 with additional questions.
