SALT LAKE CITY – An alkaline water company with a bottling plant in Utah has issued a voluntary withdrawal of its water following suspected links to cases of non-viral hepatitis reported in Nevada late last year, state officials said. federal.
Real Water, Inc., headquartered in Arizona and Nevada, recalled 1- and 1-liter bottles, as well as 500-milliliter bottles of water that were distributed in the U.S., including Utah, through Amazon, according to the 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 or online services, according to the department.
The Food and Drug Administration reported last week that 3- and 5-gallon water bottles were distributed in Utah. He confirmed that the 5-gallon containers were distributed in St. George through Real Water Southern Utah.
Utah officials said the company’s products were now seized due to the withdrawal. They said that anyone who could remember the products “should throw them away immediately and not drink or cook with it”.
“Distributors have been notified of the withdrawal and have been instructed to immediately remove the withdrawn products from all store shelves, distribution and other inventory to ensure that they are no longer available for sale or consumption,” the agency continued in a statement. communicated on Thursday.
In an update Wednesday, FDA officials said the agency is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the South Nevada Health District on “a series of reports” of non-viral acute hepatitis in Nevada, associated with The “Real Water” of the company. alkaline water mark.
“The FDA has become aware that the alkaline water of the” Real Water “brand is still offered for sale through online retailers. The agency is working to locate any remaining products to ensure they are no longer available to consumers,” officials wrote Wednesday. FDA. “The FDA will continue to closely monitor this situation and follow up with retailers as we become aware that the products in question are being offered for sale.”
The agency added that due to Real Water’s “lack of cooperation”, they have not yet completed investigations into Real Water facilities in Henderson, Nevada and Mesa, Arizona. Officials posted on March 24 that the agency had issued an “Application for Registration” under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act as a result.
The FDA first published about Real Water on March 16, three days after it said the agency had been alerted to five cases of non-viral hepatitis leading to liver failure in infants and children in the district. Nevada health. All five were hospitalized and recovered. Officials said the consumption of Real Water was “the only common link identified in all these cases so far.”
Several possible cases then emerged. The Associated Press reported last week that several lawsuits have been filed against the company for Real Water-related diseases. A lawsuit was filed by a Nevada man who claimed the product led to 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 movements, joint pain, yellow eyes and jaundice, according to the Department of Agriculture and Food. It can lead to severe illness, and the department has recommended that anyone with these symptoms see their doctor.
While headquartered in Arizona and Nevada, Utah Department of Agriculture and Food officials said Real Water has a bottling facility in Hildale, Washington County. The company posted a video message from the company’s founder and president, Brent Jones, on March 23.
In it, Jones apologized to customers for safety concerns regarding the company’s water products. He said the contaminated water appeared to be related to home and office delivery in Las Vegas and that the company issued a voluntary recall nationwide as a precaution.
“We started Real Water over 13 years ago with the intention of providing a health product that benefits and lifts people’s lifestyles,” he said in the video. “We are deeply saddened to learn that anything else can be the result.”