On June 14, the CDC announced an investigation into a nationwide Salmonella Mbandaka outbreak linked to Kellogg's Honey Smacks Cereal. There were 135 cases across 34 states, 34 people have been hospitalized. The states affected are Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.
The CDC advised consumers to throw away or return any product purchased. Kellogg recalled all 15.3 oz. and 23 oz. packages of Honey Smacks Cereal.
The first lawsuit was filed on June 21,2018 in Michigan federal district court against Kellogg’s on behalf of Winnie Lemieux who developed a Salmonella infection after consuming Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal. Ms. Lemieux is represented by the Seattle Law Firm, Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm and Michael Heilmann, a local, and well-respected Michigan attorney. The case number is Case 1:18-cv-00682. In May 2018, Ms. Lemieux purchased a box of Honey Smacks cereal from a Walmart store in Kansas. Over the next two weeks, Ms. Lemieux consumed a bowl of cereal every morning. On May 24, Ms. Lemieux began feeling ill and after over a week of experiencing symptoms she was admitted to the Southwest Medical Center in Liberal, Kansas on June 3 admitted with infectious colitis, hyponatremia, hypokalemia, as well as being septic. She tested positive for Salmonella. She received intravenous antibiotics and was discharged on June 7. She continues to experience symptoms to this day.
All cases were resolved in 2019.