Cantaloupe Outbreak

 
Food safety is still not safe (although such a complex problem)!  If you haven't heard, there has been a listeria food poisoning outbreak in contaminated cantaloupes, leaving at least 13 people dead amid 72 sickened in 18 states, federal health officials said as of Tuesday, September 27.  This may rank as one of the deadliest food outbreaks in the United States in more than a decade. 

More to come because symptoms of listeria infection can take weeks to become apparent, "we will see more cases likely through October," FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg told the Associated Press.  The affected cantaloupes, recalled by Jensen Farms on Sept. 14, 2011, were shipped between July 29 and Sept. 10, ABC News reported. 

If I had any cantaloupes in the refrigerator, I would throw them away, I just wouldn't want to take the risk.  And, cook (or pasteurize, as some people suggest) everything else before consuming if you had possible contaminated cantaloupe in the refrigerator. Articles are saying that the the bacteria isn't killed by freezing or refrigeration.

Symptoms?  For many healthy people, symptoms are flu-like, including fever, muscle aches, diarrhea and nausea, and can appear a few days after you've eaten the listeria-contaminated food, to a couple months after you've eaten it, the Mayo Clinic reported. However, if the infection reaches your nervous system, additional symptoms can include headache, convulsions, confusion and loss of balance.  People who are most at risk include ones with weaker immune systems, pregnant women, elderly, people with diabetes or kidney disease.


Another bit of news: Deaths have been reported in eight states, including four in New Mexico, two in Colorado, two in Texas and one each in Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma. 


I came across this in an msnbc article, and thought it was interesting to note and a good reminder:

Summary of U.S. food poisoning outbreaks with the largest tolls


- Jalisco Mexican Products Inc., Artesia, Calif., January 1985. Mexican-style fresh cheese contaminated with listeria caused 52 deaths, including many stillbirths, although a CDC spokeswoman didn't know how many.

- Bil Mar Foods, Zeeland, Mich., October 1998. Hot dogs and deli meats contaminated with listeria left 101 people hospitalized with infections and 21 deaths.

- Peanut Corp. of America, Blakely, Ga., September 2008. Peanut butter and peanut paste contaminated with salmonella Typhimurium sickened 714, and led to 166 hospitalizations and nine deaths.

- Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., Franconia, Pa., July 2002. Sliced turkey and deli meat contaminated with listeria led to 54 illnesses and eight deaths, including three stillbirths.

- Cargill Turkey Products Inc., Waco, Texas, May 2000. Turkey deli meat tainted with listeria left 29 ill and hospitalized and led to seven deaths, including three miscarriages or stillbirths.

- Dole Natural Selection Foods, San Juan Bautista, Calif., August 2006. Spinach tainted with E. coli O157:H7 sickened 238, hospitalized 103 people and led to five deaths.

- SanGar Fresh Cut Produce, San Antonio, Texas, October 2010. Celery contaminated with listeria sickened 10 people, including five who died.

- Jack in the Box, San Diego, Calif., November 1992. Ground beef contaminated with E. coli O157 led to 708 illnesses and four deaths.

- Chi-Chi’s restaurant, Beaver, Penn., October 2003. Hepatitis A infections tied to green onions sickened 565 people, left 128 hospitalized and caused three deaths.

- Raw restaurant-prepared tomatoes. December 1998. Contamination with the rare salmonella Baildon bacteria in restaurant-prepared cut tomatoes shipped to several states left 86 ill, 16 hospitalized and three dead.

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com
Source: www.msnbc.com