SALT LAKE CITY – An alkaline water company with a bottling facility in Utah has issued a voluntary recall of its water after suspected links to cases of non-viral hepatitis reported in Nevada late last year, state officials said.
Real Water, Inc., headquartered in Arizona and Nevada, recalled 1- and 1-liter bottles, as well as 500-milliliter bottles of water distributed by Amazon, including Utah. Department of Agriculture and Food.
According to the department, the company also sells 3 to 5 liter delivery bottles for home and office and 4-ounce Real Water Concentrate, which was also available for delivery services or via the internet.
The Food and Drug Administration reported last week that bottles of 3 and 5 gallons of water were distributed to Utah. It confirmed that loads of 5 liters in St. George is distributed by Real Water, Southern Utah.
Utah officials said the company’s products were now embargo due to the recall. They said that everyone who recalled products “should throw it away immediately and not drink or boil with it.”
“Distributors have been notified of the recall and instructed to immediately remove recalled products from all store shelves, distribution and other inventory to ensure that they are no longer available for sale or consumption,” the agency said Thursday. a statement said.
In an update Wednesday, FDA officials stated that the agency is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Southern Nevada Health District regarding “a number of reports” of acute non-viral hepatitis in Nevada related to the company. ‘Real Water’. brand alkaline water.
“The FDA has become aware that ‘alkaline water’ ‘Real Water’ is still being offered for sale by online retailers. The agency is working to locate the remaining products to ensure they are no longer available to consumers,” the FDA officials wrote Wednesday. “The FDA will continue to monitor this situation closely and monitor retailers as we become aware of recalled products being offered for sale.”
The agency added that due to a ‘lack of cooperation’ by Real Water, they still had to complete investigations into Real Water facilities in Henderson, Nevada and Mesa, Arizona. Officials posted on March 24 that the agency had issued a ‘Demand for Records’ under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act.
The FDA first posted a report on Real Water on March 16, which three days after it said the agency had been warned about five cases of non-viral hepatitis leading to liver failure in infants and children in the southern Nevada health district . All five were hospitalized and recovered. According to officials, the use of alkaline water with real water is ‘the only common link identified so far among all these cases’.
More possible cases then emerged. The Associated Press reported last week that several lawsuits have been filed against the company over Real Water-related illnesses. One case was filed by a man from Nevada, who claimed that in 2019 the product led to a need for liver transplantation.
Symptoms of non-viral hepatitis include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, clay or greyish bowel movements, joint pain, yellow eyes and jaundice, according to the Department of Agriculture and Food. This can lead to serious illnesses and the department has recommended that anyone experiencing these symptoms contact their doctor.
While based primarily in Arizona and Nevada, Utah Department of Agriculture and Food officials said Real Water has a bottling facility in Hildale, Washington County. On March 23, the company posted a video message from the company’s founder and president, Brent Jones.
In it, Jones apologized to customers about the safety issues regarding the company’s water products. He said it appears the contaminated waterfalls have been linked to home and office delivery in Las Vegas and that the company has issued a voluntary recall as a precaution.
“We started Real Water 13 years ago with the goal of providing a health product that benefits and enhances people’s lifestyles,” he said in the video. “We are very sad to learn that anything else could be the result.”