Awareness Corp. of Mesa, AZ, is recalling its 7.4 ounce container of Boost Tea because it may be contaminated with Salmonella, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections especially in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Others infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream area and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections, endocarditis and arthritis. No illnesses have yet been reported The possibility of Salmonella contamination was discovered during routine testing by a third party customer of FutureCeuticals, a large manufacturer and supplier of organic ingredients in North America. We have been informed by a reliable source that organic spinach powder produced by FutureCeuticals tested positive for Salmonella in another company’s product, not in Boost Tea. Boost Tea also contains this organic spinach powder ingredient obtained from supplier FutureCeuticals. Upon notification by the FDA of FutureCeuticals Spinach powder issues, Awareness conducted its own investigation and had independent lab analysis performed by two separate analytical laboratories which confirmed a complete absence of Salmonella in its Boost Tea product. Based on Awareness’ utmost concern about product safety, it is conducting this voluntary recall as a preventative measure. To prevent a recurrence of this concern, Awareness has removed organic Spinach powder from Boost Tea and expects new Boost Tea to be available in the next few weeks. The voluntarily recalled Boost Tea was distributed nationwide by distributors from Awareness. The product’s white plastic container is marked with Lot #022615 on the bottom panel of the container and with an expiration date of 10/17 stamped on the container. It was first sold to distributors on or about December 15, 2015. (To sign up for a free subscription to Food Safety News, click here.)
