FDA Says It's Illegal To Sell Honey Smacks Due To Salmonella Outbreak

Kellogs’ Honey Smacks are still being sold despite salmonella outbreak

If you have Honey Smacks cereal in your kitchen, you’re going to want to throw it out immediately. All boxes of the cereal are being recalled after a salmonella outbreak in 31 states. “Do not eat this cereal,” the CDC warned in a tweet.

Last month, the CDC sent out a warning that Honey Smacks had caused an outbreak of 73 salmonella infections. Sounds serious enough to stop sales of the breakfast food for good, right? Well, not quite. Despite a voluntary recall, some stores still had the cereal on their shelves and more and more people were purchasing boxes and getting sick. Twenty-seven cases of salmonella infections occurred after the initial recall, in everywhere from Montana to Utah.

Thankfully there have been no deaths as a result of this outbreak.

It’s officially against the law to sell the cereal anywhere. “Retailers cannot legally offer the cereal for sale and consumers should not purchase Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal,” the FDA said in a statement. The CDC added that people should throw out any boxes they already own – “regardless of package size or best-by date.” If the cereal has been stored in a container, be sure to wash that container with warm water and soap before using it again.

According to the CDC, salmonella is responsible for getting an average of 1.2 million people sick every year. That’s about 23,000 hospitalizations and 450 deaths. Symptoms include a whole laundry list of awfulness, including diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps.

Be sure to follow the CDC on Twitter or their official website, to keep up to date on any other food you should definitely, definitely be avoiding.