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Hundreds of people in the U.S. and Canada have been sickened in a growing outbreak of salmonella poisoning linked to contaminated whole and pre-cut cantaloupe.
Health officials are warning consumers, retailers and restaurants not to buy, eat or serve cantaloupe if they don’t know the source. That’s especially important for individuals who are vulnerable to serious illness from salmonella infection and those who care for them. High-risk groups include young children, people older than 65 and those with weakened immune systems.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is especially concerned because many of the illnesses have been severe and because victims include people who ate cantaloupe served in childcare centers and long-term care facilities.
The first U.S. case was a person who fell ill on Oct. 16, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Canadian health officials said people fell ill between mid-October and mid-November. The first recalls were issued Nov. 6 in the U.S., according to the Food and Drug Administration. Multiple recalls of whole and cut fruit have followed.
The cantaloupes implicated in this outbreak include two brands, Malichita and Rudy, that are grown in the Sonora area of Mexico. The fruit was imported by Sofia Produce LLC, of Nogales, Arizona, which does business as TruFresh, and Pacific Trellis Fruit LLC, of Los Angeles. So far, about 1.4 million pounds of cantaloupe have been recalled.
Roughly one-third of FDA-regulated human food imported into the U.S. comes from Mexico, including about 60% of fresh produce imports. The average American eats about 6 pounds of cantaloupe a year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Health officials in the U.S. and Canada are still investigating, but cantaloupes generally are prone to contamination because they are “netted” melons with rough, bumpy rinds that make bacteria difficult to remove.
Salmonella bacteria are found in the intestines of animals and can spread if excrement comes in contact with fruit in the field. Contamination can come from tainted water used in irrigation, or in cleaning and cooling the melons.
Poor hygienic practices of workers, pests in packing facilities and equipment that’s not cleaned and sanitized properly can also lead to contamination, the FDA says.
This article was provided by The Associated Press.