Don't Buy Cantaloupe!! 16 Dead In Deadliest Food Outbreak In US In A Decade

news.yahoo.com...

Federal health officials said Wednesday more illnesses and possibly more deaths may be linked to an outbreak of listeria in cantaloupe in coming weeks. So far, the outbreak has caused at least 72 illnesses — including up to 16 deaths — in 18 states, making it the deadliest food outbreak in the United States in more than a decade.

The heads of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration said consumers who have cantaloupes produced by Jensen Farms in Colorado should throw them out. If they are not sure where the fruit is from, they shouldn't eat it.

Frieden and FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said that illnesses are expected for weeks to come because the incubation period for listeria can be a month or even longer. That means that someone who ate contaminated cantaloupe last week may not get sick until next month.

Jensen Farms last shipped cantaloupes on Sept. 10. The shelf life is about two weeks. "We will see more cases likely through October," Hamburg said. The Food and Drug Administration said state health officials found listeria in cantaloupes taken from Colorado grocery stores and from a victim's home that were grown at Jensen Farms.

Matching strains of the disease were found on equipment and cantaloupe samples at Jensen Farms' packing facility in Granada, Colo. Sherri McGarry, a senior adviser in the FDA's Office of Foods, said the agency is looking at the farm's water supply and possible animal intrusions among other things in trying to figure out how the cantaloupes became contaminated. Listeria bacteria grow in moist, muddy conditions and are often carried by animals.

I wouldn't touch the stuff for a while. I hope there isn't anyone here who has eaten a cantaloupe recently. Might consider calling the doctor.

ive been craving cantaloupe every time i see it at whole foods but never had the extra 3$ to buy one haha. good thing i prioritize cigs over fruit i guess.

Glad I ate watermelon and an apple today instead of the pictured cantaloupe. Yeah I am lazy enough to buy t cut up.

TY

OP may have saved Domo's life.

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by GogoVicMorrow


I think OP was mad at me for being facetious the other night ( my intent was not to troll but to mock pro macers ) and perhaps is not thrilled that he may have saved my life! Thanks though, I usually eat one of those little cups every night.

reply to post by Domo1


I had some cantaloupe not so long ago, but I think it's already been well over a month.

reply to post by GogoVicMorrow


Well I think and hope that you are safe then. I read that fatality is around 25% in serious cases. WAAAAYYYYY worse than salmonella. Yikes.

Yeah, I eat cantaloupe. But, I generally get it from some friend's gardens.

reply to post by Domo1


I looked, but might have missed. Was there a listing of the states?

Also, question (and not suggesting you or anyone eat it peeled), but would the bacteria be inside the cantaloupe or is it like ecoli contamination just on the outside? I can't imagine it being anywhere, but on the skin.

reply to post by GogoVicMorrow

The CDC reported the 72 illnesses and deaths in 18 states. Cases of listeria were reported in California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The most illnesses were reported in Colorado, which has seen 15 sickened. Fourteen illnesses were reported in Texas, 10 in New Mexico and eight in Oklahoma.

Same source as OP. Um I don't think it's just on the skin. I don't know of anyone anywhere that eats the skin. I think it's the whole thing. Not entirely sure though. Better safe than sorry and wait it out in my opinion.

reply to post by Domo1


That's what I get for skimming. Yeah I mean, I know no one eats the skin, but aren't most of these bacteria just from outer contamination? That's how it is with ecoli. It could be, however, that people are getting sick from precisely what you have, pre sliced cantaloupe that was cut with contaminated utensils.

I already posted this topic in the Diseases and Pandemics forum.

You guys should be okay, the cantaloupe that is infected only came from a certain farm.

I had some Cantaloupe this past weekend. Kinda scary. I'm in Florida. I feel fine though. I will avoid it for the next month or so.

Just had some last night and this morning. It was delicious.

Juiced half for my power-drink
- 1/2 cantaloupe
- 1 granny smith apple
- 1 red apple (Gala or Jazz etc)
- 1 peach
- 1 pear
- 4 stalks of Kale

Fire it all in a juicer and BAM! Nutrition and energy



On a side note - DON'T BUY ALCOHOL!! 22,073 DEAD IN DEADLIEST YEAR IN THE US IN 2006!


Did that grab your attention?

16 people have died over the past 2 weeks in deaths related to tainted cantaloupe.
Also during that 2 week period, an estimated 849 people have died due to alcohol-induced causes.

Why does a fruit get all the glitz, glam and headlines when the pink elephant in the room (booze) get's a free pass.

Rhetorical question - I know.

reply to post by TXRabbit


Apples and Oranges. Literally.

The alchohol related deaths were from over-indulgence and they were conscious and known risks taken.

The Cantaloupe deaths were certainly not over-indulgence or any conscious or known risk. People don't typically think of a cantaloupe as potentially dangerous.

Plus, I never believe those alcohol-related numbers. If I have a drink, and someone crashes into me and kills their self, it is still alcohol related. If I have a drink, and then get struck by lightning, it is stil alcohol related. If I have a cantaloupe and then get struck by lightning, it is not cantaloupe related, LOL!

Originally posted by getreadyalready
reply to post by TXRabbit

 

Apples and Oranges.

Literally.

The alchohol related deaths were from over-indulgence and they were conscious and known risks taken.

The Cantaloupe deaths were certainly not over-indulgence or any conscious or known risk. People don't typically think of a cantaloupe as potentially dangerous.

Plus, I never believe those alcohol-related numbers. If I have a drink, and someone crashes into me and kills their self, it is still alcohol related. If I have a drink, and then get struck by lightning, it is stil alcohol related. If I have a cantaloupe and then get struck by lightning, it is not cantaloupe related, LOL!

That's why I've started covering all my bases lately. Infuse 1 cantaloupe with 1 bottle of vodka (Tito's ftw!). Eat while driving over the speed limit

reply to post by TXRabbit


LOL!

That might kill the Listeria, and deaden the pain upon the ensuing crash. Good Plan.

If the disease is on the outside of the melon, I'm not sure how well this disease is killed by washing. Got to remember that cantaloupe has all those spongy fibers on the skin. Just the act of putting the knife to it would be enough to contaminate the inner part--I'm thinking even after a washing.

But the same as planting food over a cesspool, if the contamination's in the water source, and the fruit grew the contaminated the whole time, the flesh could be contaminated...but then I'm sure fruit has a transfer barrier like the blood barrier in placenta. A lot of diseases can't pass through the baby one, but some can.

FDA Guidelines for Produce and Plant safety.

Aha! Found it:

* Washing only helps to reduce levels of pathogens on the surface to a limited degree
* Internalization of pathogens can cause washing to have little or no effect
* Water can serve as a vector for contamination

Here.

lets see 16 people died and 2 million people ate it in the last week .
nope not time to run screaming yet.
Pick a food any food i rember years back jackin the box got a hold of some bad hamburgers and like 10 died .
I rember not long agaio it was letuas and peanut butter and well ill stop here or you will starve.
O and you cant blame this on one any one as even if you grow it your self that doesn't mean you wont get bad food
There is no granted way to be sure you dont just take normal precautions cook food well refrigerate and then pry its never the tomatoes