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Tainted pineapple in B.C. prompts Hep A warning

Did you buy Western Family ready-to-eat pineapple?
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People who have consumed certain packages of Western Family brand of ready-to-eat pineapple chunks from Save-On Food stores in Duncan and Sidney should get Hepatitis A immunizations as a precaution, says Island Health. (BC Centre for Disease Control)

People are being urged to get a hepatitis A shot as a precaution after the virus was detected in a small sample of pineapple in Western Family brand products.

The ready-to-go pineapple cups were produced on Aug. 11 and distributed to 38 Save-On-Foods, Overwaitea Foods and PriceSmart Foods stores across the province, according to the BC Centre for Disease Control on Friday. The best before date is of Aug. 19.

Other products are believed to have been affected as an investigation continues.

A vaccine can prevent a hepatitis infection if you get it within 14 days of exposure. The BCCDC says you should get the vaccine if you ate the pineapple on Aug. 18 or later. No illness has been reported to date.

Hepatitis A affects the liver and causes yellow skin or eyes, loss of appetite, fever, tiredness, stomach ache, nausea, dark coloured urine, and light or whitish coloured bowel movements.

Below is a list of the stores where the pineapple cups were sold:

  • Save-on-Foods, 300 - 32700 S. Fraser Way (West Oaks Mall), Abbotsford BC, V2T 4M5
  • Save-on-Foods, 2388 Whatcom Road, Abbotsford BC, V3G 0C1
  • Save-on-Foods, 3433 North Road, Burnaby BC, V3J 0A9
  • Save-on-Foods, 4469 Kingsway (Old Orchard Shopping Mall), Burnaby BC, V5H 1Z9
  • PriceSmart Foods, 4650 Kingsway, Burnaby BC, V5H 4L9
  • Save-on-Foods, 200 - 7155 Kingsway, Burnaby BC, V5E 2V1
  • Save-on-Foods, 4399 Lougheed Hwy, Burnaby BC, V5C 3Y7
  • Save-on-Foods, 46020 Yale Road (Salish Plaza), Chilliwack BC, V2P 7V2
  • Save-on-Foods, 45635 Tamihi Way, Chilliwack BC, V2R 0M4
  • Save-on-Foods, 2991 Lougheed Highway (Pinetree Village), Coquitlam BC, V3B 6J6
  • Save-on-Foods, 7015 - 120th Street (Scottsdale Centre), Delta BC, V4E 2A9
  • Save-on-Foods, 181 Trans-Canada Highway, Duncan BC, V9L 3P8
  • Save-on-Foods, 10345 100th Street, Fort St. John BC, V1J 3Z2
  • Overwaitea, 1020 10th Avenue South, PO Box 409, Golden BC, V0A 1H0
  • Save-on-Foods, #9 - 2101 E. Trans Canada Hwy, Kamloops BC, V2C 4A6
  • Save-on-Foods, 200-450 Lansdowne Street, Kamloops BC, V2C 1Y3
  • Save-on-Foods, #10 - 301 Highway 33 W., Kelowna BC, V1X 1X8
  • Save-on-Foods, 20151 Fraser Highway, Langley BC, V3A 4E4
  • Save-on-Foods, 8840 - 210 Street, Langley BC, V1M 2Y2
  • Save-on-Foods, #1 - 20255 - 64th Avenue, Langley BC, V2Y 1M9
  • Save-on-Foods, 23981 Dewdney Trunk Road, Maple Ridge BC, V4R 1W1
  • Save-on-Foods, #116 - 1700 Garcia Street, PO Box 144, Merritt BC, V1K 1B8
  • Save-on-Foods, 400 - 32555 London Avenue, Mission BC, V2V 6M7
  • Save-on-Foods, #600 - 333 Brooksbank Avenue (Park & Tilford Gardens), North Vancouver BC, V7J 3S8
  • Save-on-Foods, #161 - 2111 Main Street (Cherry Lane Shopping Centre), Penticton BC, V2A 6W6
  • Save-on-Foods, 5232 Domano Blvd, Prince George BC, V2N 4A1
  • Save-on-Foods, 100, 1600 - 15th Avenue (Parkwood Plaza), Prince George, V2L 3X3
  • Save-on-Foods, 555 Central Street (Spruceland Mall), Prince George BC, V2M 3C6
  • Save-on-Foods, 3885 W. Austin Road, Prince George BC, V2K 2H7
  • Save-on-Foods, 555 Victoria Road, PO Box 512, Revelstoke BC, V0E 2S0
  • PriceSmart Foods, 8200 Ackroyd Road, Richmond BC, V6X 1B5
  • Save-on-Foods, 3000 - 11666 Steveston Hwy, Richmond BC, V7A 5J3
  • Save-on-Foods, 2345 Beacon Avenue, Sidney BC, V8L 1W9
  • Overwaitea, 113 Red Cedar Drive, PO Box 790, Sparwood BC, V0B 2G0
  • Save-on-Foods, 1301 Pemberton (Chieftain Mall), Squamish BC, V8B 0A1
  • Save-on-Foods, 10312 King George Boulevard, Surrey BC, V3T 2W5
  • Save-on-Foods, 4731 Lakelse Avenue (Skeena Mall), Terrace BC, V8G 1R5
  • Save-on-Foods, #255 - 2306 Highway 6, Vernon BC, V1T 7E3


Sarah Simpson

About the Author: Sarah Simpson

I started my time with Black Press Media as an intern, before joining the Citizen in the summer of 2004.
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