Efoodalert.com reports that botulism-tainted Italian olives have sickened two members of a family from Helsinki, Finalnd.  Both individuals reported having eaten Gaudiano Organic Olives Stuffed with Almonds. Lab tests confirmed that the jar from which the two patients had eaten the olives contained botulinum toxin.

The tainted olives were packed in 314ml glass jars, with a best before date of 09/2012. They were imported into Finland by Kespro as early as September 2010. The olives were sold in Finland to K-food stores KCM Big Apple (Espoo), KCM Jumbo (Vantaa) and KSM South Centre (Rovaniemi), and to a few restaurants.

According to a notice posted October 21, 2011 on the Rapid Alert System for Foods and Feeds (RASFF) and updated this morning (October 24th), these olives also were distributed to the United Kingdom and the USA. So far, neither the U.S. Food and Drug Administration nor Britain’s Food Standards Agency has issued a Consumer Alert or a public health advisory of any sort.