Niagara Bottling LLC, a California-based bottled water producer, has issued a recall on bottled water with the date range June 10th through the 18th. The recall was prompted from an E. coli scare when one of the plants tested positive for the bacteria. Stan Bratskeir, spokesman for Niagara, stated that the Department of Environmental Control and the Department of Agriculture notified the company of the plant’s positive test results. This finding prompted the family-owned company to issue a voluntary recall. Bratskeir also stated the company has terminated all business relations with Far Away Springs, the water source. In addition, Bratskeir said the recalled water was from two Pennsylvania plants that account for less than 3% of Niagara’s overall intake volume. The CDC recommended not drinking any of the recalled products and that people should contact their local or state health department if suspected to have consumed contaminated water.
The owner of Far Away Springs, Stan Frompovicz, indicated that every sample tested at the two receiving plants in question, were negative for any bacteria. Frompovicz went on to say that in the last eight years his plants had never tested positive for E. coli. On June 10th the company was tested 27 times at the two plants and an additional 175 times the week following. All results were negative. The Far Away Springs’s owner further defended his company saying the water is put through a rigorous disinfection process that works perfectly, killing all bacteria, and assuring the public that the water source is sterile. According to the CDC, incubation of the virus is typically between 3-4 days, but on the rare occasion the virus may not cause symptoms until 10 days out, or even as soon as the following day. So far there have been no reports of infection, but a person can carry the virus for some weeks, depending on the strain, which in this instance is unknown.
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