The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Saturday at least 23 people in 14 states have been sickened by the same strain of salmonella found in two breakfast cereals recalled by Malt-O-Meal last week.

The company voluntarily recalled its unsweetened Puffed Rice and Puffed Wheat cereals April 5 after discovering salmonella contamination during routine testing. The products were shipped with a “Best if used by” date between April 8, 2008 and March 18, 2009.

"The Malt-O-Meal company has been extremely cooperative in this investigation and has done the right thing to protect the public's health," Heidi Kassenborg, director of the dairy and food inspection division at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.

The cereals were sold across the U.S. under the Malt-O-Meal brand and under private labels such as Acme, America’s Choice, Food Club, Giant, Hannaford, Jewel, Laura Lynn, Pathmark, Shaw’s, ShopRite, Tops and Weis Quality.

Up until this moment, three people have been hospitalized but no close-death situations were reported. The symptoms for salmonella infection include nausea, vomiting, fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps. It is also known to become life-threatening usually for people in bad health or weakened immune systems, such as young children and the senior citizens.

The reported illnesses were spread all over the country, and the states mentioned by the AP included California, Colorado, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Consumers who still have the products are strongly advised to throw them out or to bring them back to the store they were purchased from for a full refund.

“If you have a product like this at home we’d like you to bring it back to the store where you purchased it, and get a full refund with our apologies and our thanks,” Jon Austin, Malt-O-Meal representative said.