The Québec Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS) has confirmed 95 cases of viral gastroenteritis in two separate outbreak clusters linked to consumption of raspberry cake.
According to MAPAQ, the raspberries used in the cakes were imported from Chile.
The outbreak details were provided to eFoodAlert by MSSS in response to an email request.
Although the MSSS refers to the outbreak cases as gastroenteritis of possible viral origin, related recall notices refer specifically to Norovirus.
The first cluster comprised 65 victims, with an attack rate of 62%. The second cluster consisted of 30 individuals with an attack rate of 60%.
Symptoms appeared within 24 hours and consisted of diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. None of the outbreak victims were hospitalized, and none consulted a doctor.
Neither outbreak cluster involved hospitals, seniors’ residences, or nursing homes.
MSSS has alerted its provincial and federal counterparts, and is not aware of any related case reports from regions of Québec or other parts of Canada.
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has not replied to eFoodAlert’s request for information.
Both the Ministère d’Agriculture, Pêcheries et Alimentation de Québec (MAPAC) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency have posted recall notices for raw, frozen raspberries and for other food items made from the implicated raspberries.
Consumers and food service workers should discard or return any items that appear on the recalled products lists.
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