Go Back to Eating Junk Food Because Your Smoothie Might Give You Hepatitis

Time to go back to eating pizza and french fries, because healthy food is making people sick. There is a Hepatitis A outbreak across five states linked to frozen strawberries used in smoothies, according to Food Safety News. The outbreak is linked to a Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Virginia, where 44 people have gotten sick, and an additional seven people are sick in Maryland, North Carolina, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

Hepatitis A is highly contagious, but according to the Centers for Disease Control it doesn’t result in chronic infection. The CDC and the Food and Drug Administration are both investigating the outbreak, and it seems Tropical Smoothie Cafe has been able to pinpoint where the Hepatitis came from. According to a statement on the smoothie company’s website, the disease came from frozen strawberries imported from Egypt which they’ve since pulled from the shelves in all stores.

Though we probably can rest assured that they’ve contained the outbreak, we’ll stick to our grilled cheese for a bit until we’re absolutely, totally sure.

[image via Wikimedia Commons]

[H/T Eater]

Follow Dana Eisenberg on Twitter.

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