Some Out-of-State Blueberries Recalled

If you have traveled recently and picked up some blueberries along your travels, you may want to pay attention to this notice.

Dole has announced a voluntary recall of some of its pre-packaged blueberries due to possible contamination.

The United States Food and Drug Administration published Dole's announcement earlier this week, saying that the company cited possible contamination with Cyclospora as the reason for the recall.

Cyclospora - let's break that word down:

What is Cyclospora?

Cyclo is Greek, meaning cycle. Spora is Latin for seed. A seed with a cycle; a single-cell organism. Sounds great, right? Well, it isn't, obv., and that's why the company decided to pull the item from shelves.

What can Cyclospora do to me?

When ingested, Cyclospora can cause symptoms such as severe abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, body aches, and fatigue. Not the perfect combination for a Saturday night on the town, right?

How does Cyclospora get on the Blueberries in the first place?

You might want to stop reading now because this one isn't easy to read.

I'm serious.

Okay, you were warned - here goes:

Humans are the only hosts of Cyclospora, according to WebMD, so the only way they can be transferred is through human waste.

...farmworkers will get ill in the fields near fruits and vegetables, or they go to the bathroom and they don't wash their hands properly. - Andi Shane, MD; WebMD

I told you you shouldn't have read that.

Will Cyclospora kill me?

How sick can you become from Cyclospora? Well, that depends: it appears that treatment with antibiotics relieves symptoms in most patients fairly quickly. One of the symptoms is dehydration, and we know how quickly south one's health can head once you get dehydrated.

What should I look for?

The packages of blueberries that are being recalled are in "clamshell" boxes, labeled "fresh blueberries", sold by Dole. The FDA lists all of the lot codes and UPC codes of the affected blueberries, which were sold in Maine, New York, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Canada.