Hepatitis A warnings do not include Columbia-area Tropical Smoothie Cafes

Tropical Smoothie Cafe shops in the Columbia area were not included in recent federal health reports about a Hepatitis A outbreak.

The Hepatitis A outbreak was linked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to smoothies served in Tropical Smoothie Cafe shops made with frozen strawberries from Egypt.

Leslie Duffy, franchise owner of three Tropical Smoothie Cafe shops in Columbia – on Harbison Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard and Lincoln Street downtown – said Thursday the strawberries she uses are not from Egypt and are obtained from a different supplier, Sysco Systems in Charlotte, N.C.

“There are people here that are panicking, that have eaten in our stores recently, and there is no need to panic,” Duffy said.

A fourth Tropical Smoothie Cafe shop in Columbia, located on Fort Jackson Boulevard, also does not use strawberries from Egypt, according to an assistant manager.

Hepatitis A cases linked to the Tropical Smoothie Cafe chain have been reported in six states, including Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina, Oregon and Wisconsin, according to the CDC. Hepatitis A is a highly-contagious viral infection that affects the liver.

In previously published reports, Tropical Smoothie said it removed the product from all its restaurants in early August.

This story was originally published September 1, 2016 at 5:17 PM.