Updated: Wed Oct. 11 2006 10:48:23 AM

CTV.ca News Staff

Carrot juice from Bolthouse Farms has disappeared from the market for good in the wake of a botulism case that hospitalized four people in the U.S. and two more in Toronto.

"The 100 per cent carrot juice product has been recalled, and that is recalled with a period, not an ellipse," Bolthouse Farms spokesperson Tim Warner told CTV.ca on Wednesday.

"It is a product that is no longer and will not be on the market."

Warner said that the decision to recall carrot juice from North American store shelves was made in the interest of consumer safety.

The revelation that Bolthouse Farms is getting out of the carrot juice business came after published reports that the company blamed consumers for the botulism by neglecting to refrigerate the beverage.

It is an assertion flatly denied by the company.

"Nothing could be further from the truth," Warner said.

He said that officials with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) believed consumers were not following refrigeration and expiration guidelines printed on the packaging.

"Based on what they've said publicly, yes. And they also provided that information to us directly."

As the warning went out from government agencies and carrot juice was pulled from stores, Bolthouse Farms started to look at their supply chain. Refrigerated from juicing to delivery, the company felt its product was safe every step of the way.

Investigations were launched internally and by the FDA, including tests of suspect lots of carrot juice. The company says they passed the tests, but details of FDA investigations are confidential.

Bolthouse Farms also looked at making changes to how they process carrot juice "to mitigate the potential risk associated with consumer temperature abuse," an FDA media release said on Sept. 29.

Information published on the company's website said that after modifying their production processes, they would try to determine a re-launch date for carrot juice. But the decision was later made to drop the carrot juice line completely.

Products recalled in Canada include:

• Bolthouse Farms' 100 per cent Carrot Juice;
• Earthbound Farm Organic Carrot Juice; and
• President's Choice Organics 100 per cent Pure Carrot Juice.

All products with best-before dates up to Nov. 11 have been recalled.