Erlanger-based food manufacturer Dixie Dew products has been implicated in an outbreak of E. coli, forcing an immediate suspension of the company’s Food and Drug Administration food facility registration, the FDA said Tuesday in a news release.
No food can leave the Dixie Dew facility until the suspension is lifted, and all soy nut butter products manufactured by the company have been recalled.
According to the news release, FDA officials discovered "objectionable" and "insanitary" conditions in the Erlanger facility after tracing an E. coli outbreak back to Dixie Dew’s soy nut butter. The Miami Herald elaborated: Those conditions included dirty equipment, mold growing on the butter and evidence of fly and rodent infestations at the plant.
The Centers for Disease Control reported that 29 people in 12 states had become ill from eating contaminated soy nut butter. Twelve of those people had been hospitalized; two were diagnosed with kidney failure.
The suspension will be lifted when the FDA determines that Dixie Dew’s practices have been corrected to prevent future outbreaks, according to the news release.
