The Palacios Alimentación Business Group has alerted consumers this morning to refrain from eating and returning to the store the packaged potato tortillas they manufacture and which has been related to an outbreak of botulism that has so far left seven cases in various autonomous communities.
In a statement sent to EFE, the Palacios Group requests “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 refrain from consuming it and return it to the point of sale where they purchased it, where the amount will be refunded.”
The company also says it has decided “voluntarily, as a precaution, to withdraw from the shelves of the points of sale the fresh packaged potato omelette produced in the Mudrian factory, as well as temporarily stop its manufacture.”
However, it maintains that “it has not been possible to establish evidence, neither in the products nor in the processes, that relate cause and effect” with respect to this company as a manufacturer of the product, as the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) stated on Tuesday in an informative note.
The outbreak of botulism associated with packaged potato tortillas has so far left seven cases, of which four -two Italian citizens who consumed this product in Valladolid, one in Asturias and a fourth in Galicia- have been confirmed, and three -in Madrid, Andalusia and the Valencian Community- have a compatible clinical situation.
Both the two confirmed cases from Galicia and Asturias -two people aged 49 and 50, respectively, who ate this product between June 19 and July 5- and the probable case from Madrid -49 years old and who started symptoms on the 10th- have required treatment in the ICU, according to what the Center for Coordination of Health Emergencies and Alerts (CCAES) said in the report it issued on this outbreak this Wednesday.
The Palacios Group has assured that it has adopted all the necessary measures to detect “a possible cause” and its facilities “have already been inspected four times by the health authorities with favorable results,” the statement said.
Food safety is a “priority” for the Palacios Alimentación Business Group, which is why it “regularly carries out control analyzes for the presence of Clostridium botulinum and botulinum toxin.”
Said analyses, according to the group, are part of the self-controls carried out in the company to reinforce the safety of its products, “without the pathogen or its toxins having been detected in any of the products in any case”.
The Palacios Alimentación Business Group has stressed that it is collaborating with the health authorities to clarify this episode “as soon as possible” and has apologized to its customers for any inconvenience this disorder may have caused.
At the same time, it has made available to the client a telephone line with the number 941 27 77 00 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and the email palacios@palacios.es “to clarify any doubts or concerns”.
Botulism is a rare but serious disease caused by a toxin that attacks the nervous system and can cause shortness of breath, muscle paralysis and even death.
Improperly canned, preserved, or fermented foods at home can create the conditions necessary for bacteria to produce the toxin.
