SALT LAKE CITY – An alkaline water company with a bottling plant in Utah voluntarily withdrew its water after suspicious links to cases of non-viral hepatitis reported in Nevada late last year, state officials reported. federals.
Real Water, Inc., headquartered in Arizona and Nevada, recalled 1- and 1-and-a-half-liter bottles, as well as 500-milliliter water bottles distributed throughout the United States, including Utah, via Amazon , according to Utah. Department of Agriculture and Food.
The company also sells 3- and 5-gallon home and office delivery bottles and 4-ounce real water concentrate, which was also available for delivery services or via the Internet, according to the department.
The Food and Drug Administration reported last week that 3- and 5-gallon water bottles were distributed in Utah. It was confirmed that 5 gallon containers were distributed in St. Louis. George through Real Water Southern Utah.
Utah officials said the company’s products have now been seized due to the withdrawal. They said anyone who remembered products “should discard it immediately and not drink or cook with it.”
“Distributors have been notified of the withdrawal and have been instructed to immediately remove the products removed from all shelves, distribution and other store inventories to ensure that they are no longer available for sale or consumption.” , the agency continued on Thursday.
In an update Wednesday, FDA officials said the agency was working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the South Nevada Health District on “several reports” of non-viral acute hepatitis in Nevada associated with “Water Real “of the company. alkaline watermark.
“The FDA has learned that” Real Water “brand alkaline water is still being offered for sale through online retailers. The agency is working to locate the remaining products to ensure they are no longer available to consumers. consumers, “FDA officials wrote Wednesday. “The FDA will continue to monitor this situation closely and follow up with retailers as we realize that the withdrawn products are being sold for sale.”
The agency added that due to Real Water’s “lack of cooperation,” they have not yet completed investigations of Real Water’s facilities in Henderson, Nevada and Mesa, Arizona. Officials announced on March 24 that the agency had issued a “registration request” under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
The FDA first published on real water on March 16, three days after it said the agency was alerted to five cases of non-viral hepatitis causing liver failure in infants and children in the district. Southern Nevada. All five were hospitalized and recovered. Officials said Real Water’s alkaline water consumption was “the only common link identified between all these cases so far.”
Then more possible cases appeared. The Associated Press reported last week that multiple lawsuits were filed against the company for Real Water-related illnesses. A Nevada man filed a lawsuit, alleging that the product entailed the need for a liver transplant in 2019.
Symptoms of non-viral hepatitis include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, clay or gray bowel movements, joint pain, yellow eyes and jaundice, according to the Department of Agriculture and Food. It can cause serious illness and the department recommends that anyone with these symptoms contact their doctor.
While they were mostly in Arizona and Nevada, Utah Department of Agriculture and Food officials said Real Water has a bottling plant in Hildale, Washington County. The company posted a video message from the company’s founder and president, Brent Jones, on March 23rd.
In it, Jones apologized to customers for safety issues with the company’s water products. He said it appeared the contaminated water cases were related to home and office delivery in Las Vegas and that the company issued a voluntary nationwide withdrawal as a precaution.
“We started Real Water more than 13 years ago with the intention of providing a health product that would benefit and elevate people’s lifestyle,” he said in the video. “We are deeply saddened to learn that anything else can be the result.”