Cantaloupes Recalled over Salmonella Outbreak Concerns

By Anna Boyd
23:09, March 22nd 2008
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Cantaloupes Recalled over Salmonella Outbreak Concerns

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning that cantaloupes from Agropecuaria Montelibano, Honduras appear to be associated with Salmonella Litchfield outbreak in the United States and Canada.

Salmonella is a common bacterium that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail in elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. Symptoms of salmonella include fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Most people recover from salmonella illness without special treatment, but cases of severe diarrhea require medical attention and there’s a risk of infection spreading from the intestines to the bloodstream, a condition that could turn fatal.

The warning comes as some 50 people across 16 states, including Colorado, and nine people in Canada have fallen ill following melons’ consumptions.  There haven’t been reported any deaths, but the FDA says 14 people have been hospitalized, the Associated Press wrote.

Groceries are being urged to remove cantaloupes from the Agropecuaria Montelibano manufacturer from store shelves and consumers are being advised to check with their local stores to see if any recently purchased cantaloupes came from Honduras.

The states affected by salmonella outbreak include California, Colorado, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.

The FDA also recommends consumers purchase cantaloupes that are not bruised or damaged, wash hands with hot, soapy water before or after handling fresh cantaloupes, scrub whole cantaloupes by using a clean produce brush and cool tap water immediately before eating, cut away and not eat bruised or damaged areas of the cantaloupe and discard leftover cut cantaloupes if left at room temperature for more than two hours.

The FDA is further investigating this outbreak in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state partners.



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