I think I’ll pass on the cantaloupe, due to the Salmonella Typhimurium infections. A total of 141 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium have been reported from 20 states. My heart goes out to the victims and their families.
From The CDC report:
The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (7), Arkansas (3), California (2), Georgia (1), Illinois (17), Indiana (13), Iowa (7), Kentucky (50), Michigan (6), Minnesota (3), Missouri (9), Mississippi (2), New Jersey (1), North Carolina (3), Ohio (3), Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina (3), Tennessee (6), Texas (1), and Wisconsin (2).
31 ill persons have been hospitalized. Two deaths have been reported in Kentucky.
Collaborative investigation efforts of state, local, and federal public health and regulatory agencies indicate that cantaloupe grown in southwestern Indiana is a likely source of this outbreak.
As a result of the initial investigations by the state health departments in Indiana and Kentucky, a farm in southwestern Indiana has contacted its distributors, which reach outside Indiana into other states, and is withdrawing its cantaloupe from the market place. The farm has agreed to cease distributing cantaloupes for the rest of the growing season.
Consumers who recently purchased cantaloupes grown in southwestern Indiana are advised not to eat them and discard any remaining cantaloupe.
The warning has been criticized.
This comes after an outbreak in 2011. This certainly is bad for the cantaloupe business.
