FDA issues parasite warning on Baby’s Bliss gripe water

25 September, 2007

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned consumers not to use the apple-flavored gripe water called ‘Baby’s Bliss’ because it could be contaminated with a parasite that causes intestinal infection.

The gripe water carries the code 26952V and an expiration date shown as 10/08 (for October 2008).

Baby’s Bliss is sold as a 4-oz plastic bottle inside a cardboard carton that bears the Baby’s Bliss logo and the product name Gripe water Apple Flavor.

The FDA has asked consumers to throw away any bottles of the product, which was distributed throughout the United States by MOM Enterprises Incorporated, of San Rafael, California.

The company has issued a voluntary recall from distribution chains and retail outlets. The product was also sold worldwide over the internet.

About 170,000 potentially affected items were bought between November 2008 and September 2007.

The recall and warning follows laboratory-confirmed tests in August 2007 on a 6-week-old baby in Minnesota that proved positive for cryptosporidium, a parasite that causes intestinal infections.

The most common symptoms of infection by cryptosporidium are watery diarrhea, dehydration, weight loss, stomach pains, and cramps, fever, nausea, and vomiting.

The symptoms generally appear between two and ten days after the parasite enters the body and last up to two weeks.

Most healthy people recover without treatment, but the infection can be life-threatening for certain people like pregnant women, babies, and children who can become seriously ill from dehydration due to diarrhea. People with weakened immune systems are also at risk.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, once a person is infected by cryptosporidium (the condition is called cryptosporidiosis), the parasite lives in the intestine and passes in the stool.

The parasite has an outer shell that helps it to survive outside the body of its host for a long time. The shell also protects it against chlorine-based disinfectants, which is why it is often found in recreational water all over the United States.

Cryptosporidium is also found in drinking water, and over the last 20 years has spread to become the most common cause of water-borne disease in humans in the United Sates, where both the parasite and the condition it causes are commonly referred to as ‘crypto.’

MOM Enterprises said it is offering full refunds on apple-flavored Baby’s Bliss Gripe water. The company and the FDA are currently investigating the cause of the contamination.