A San Francisco company is voluntarily recalling Metromint, a flavored water bottled in California that could be contaminated with Bacillus cereus.

San Francisco-based Soma Beverage Co. has issued a voluntary recall of its bottled water Metromint after the company found an isolated case of Bacillus cereus contamination in a water sample bottled a year ago at a Southern California plant.

The recall concerns all bottles of Metromint brand flavored water (Peppermint, Spearmint, Orangemint and Lemonmint) with a “Best Before” date prior to 2008/12/21, produced at Soma’s California facility because they may be contaminated with Bacillus cereus.

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued a warning Wednesday, Dec. 5, advising consumers not to drink Metromint brand flavored water.

The product was distributed nationwide to grocery stores, including those in California, and sold on the Internet.

The products were packaged in clear plastic 16.9-ounce bottles with a black M on the front and the lettering “KSA” in a rectangle located on back of the bottle in the lower right-hand corner.

The CDPH said there have been no confirmed illnesses in California so far. However, one illness complaint in Illinois could be linked to consumption of this product.

Contamination with Bacillus cereus may cause food poisoning, with symptoms such as vomiting or diarrhea. The vomiting type of the illness is characterized by nausea and vomiting within 30 minutes to six hours of consumption, the CDPH said, with a duration of symptoms generally under than 24 hours.

The diarrheal type usually includes onset of abdominal cramps and watery diarrhea within six to 15 hours of consumption of contaminated food. Symptoms may last for 24 to 48 hours, the agency said.

The company’s co-founder, Scott Lowe, told the San Francisco Chronicle that this was an isolated incident and that the chances of other bottles of Metromint to be contaminated were remote.

“This is an isolated incident,” Lowe told the paper. “The chance of this potentially contaminated product even being on the market today is minuscule.”

To read the warning issued by the California Department of Public Health go to: http://www.cdph.ca.gov/healthinfo/news/Pages/PH07-65.aspx