Community Corner

Cantaloupe Listeria Outbreak

The tainted fruit traced to a Colorado farm was not shipped to California.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that 72 illnesses, including 13 deaths, are linked to possible listeria illnesses traced to Colorado cantaloupes.

Cantaloupes were shipped from Jensen Farms in Holly, Colo., which recalled the tainted cantaloupes earlier this month, to many states but "the product was not shipped to California," said Ken August, spokesperson for the California Department of Public Health.

While the most illnesses were reported in Colorado, only one outbreak of listeria was reported in California. So far, there have been no deaths reported in California.

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"Cantaloupes sold in California are not part of that recall and are safe for consumption," said August.

The cantaloupes at Safeway in Half Moon Bay will not be pulled from the produce shelves because “we get our cantaloupes from a California farm,” said Safeway produce manager Rich Smith.

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New Leaf Community Markets produce manager Chris Maya also reassures customers that the certified organic cantaloupes in their produce section are safe.

“They come from Pinnacle Farms in Hollister and all summer long we’ve been fully stocked with them and they are absolutely safe,” said Maya. “We’ve never had any problems like this.”

Read more on the outbreak and details on what to do with tainted cantaloupe on the Huffington Post. 

 

 

 

 

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