It was last morning when Grupo Empresarial Palacios Alimentación alerted all its consumers to eat the packaged potato tortillas they manufacture, linked to botulism outbreak with up to seven cases —for the moment— in various autonomous communities.
In a statement sent to EFE, Grupo Palacios asks “all those who have purchased one of these products (Chef Select, Auchan, Eroski, Unide, Consum, DIA, Ametller, Condis, El Corte Ingles, Carrefour, Alipende and Rikissimo)” to be refrain from consuming it and return it in the supermarket that bought it.
According to the Palacios statement, the company admits have preferred to withdraw voluntarily and as a precaution from the line of points of sale the tortilla packaged fresh on the plate. Made at the plant that the brand has in the Segovian town of Mudrián, Palacios has also chosen, for now, to temporarily stop manufacturing one of its flagship products.
However, they explain in the statement that “no evidence could be establishedneither in the products nor in the processes, that relate cause and effect” to Palacios with the botulism outbreak, as AESAN also explained after learning of the first botulism infections, produced by consuming the Alipende potato tortilla, a white brand from Ahorramás supermarkets, and which is made by Grupo Palacios.
Till the date, this botulism outbreak has left seven cases with a large regional distribution, since four have been confirmed —two in Valladolid, one in Asturias and another in Galicia— and three —in Madrid, Andalusia and the Valencian Community— have a clinical situation compatible with the circumstances of botulism.
For its part, Grupo Palacios has begun taking measures to detect the possible cause, while its facilities have already been inspected up to four times for different health authorities with a favorable result.
According to the statement from Grupo Palacios, at the Mudrian plant “they are carried out on a regular basis and carry out presence control analysis Clostridium botulinum and botulinum toxin“, not appearing any pathogens or toxins in any of its products.
Furthermore, the company has opened a telephone line customer service at 941 27 77 00 and makes the email [email protected] available to the public to “clarify any doubt or concern”.
what is botulism
Botulism is one of the diseases linked to less frequent food poisoning but also of the most dangerous, more common in home-made products. It is caused by toxins from the bacteria Clostridium botulinumpresent in nature, whose spores are capable of surviving in environments without oxygen or food such as honey.
The disease itself is caused by the toxins generated by this bacterium when it multiplies, which is why it is a disease particularly associated with the world of home canning, such as vegetables in oil or low-acid foods, with a pH above 4.5. One of the main problems in identifying it is that the affected food is not usually altered, without affecting its appearance or taste.
It can also occur in industrial processing, although it is less frequent, normally due to damage produced after packaging -for example, a blow-. A can or jar bulging or swollenAnything that is damaged, rusty, has lost its vacuum, or emits some kind of gas or strange odor when opened, should be discarded.
Image | Palaces Group
IN DAP | Possible botulism outbreak linked to potato tortillas withdrawn from Ahorramas
In DAP | Ahorramas withdraws its potato tortillas for sanitary reasons and asks its customers to return them