Cantaloupe Listeria Outbreak
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that 72 illnesses, including 16 deaths, are linked to possible listeria illnesses traced to Colorado cantaloupes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that 72 illnesses, including 13 listeria outbreak deaths, are linked to the tainted cantaloupe. State and local officials say they are investigating three additional food poisoning listeria outbreak deaths that may be connected.
The number of cantaloupe listeria outbreak cases will grow in the coming weeks because it can take four weeks or more for symptoms of listeria to show up.
While the most illnesses were reported in Colorado, outbreaks of listeria have already been reported in California. If you or a loved one has been affected by the cantaloupe listeria outbreak contact our office today for a FREE food listeria attorney consultation.
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Our firm represents individuals that have become victims of Food Poisoning. Food Poisoning can occur when a food manufacturer, distributer or restaurant doesn't take the proper precautions to ensure their product is fresh and free of bacteria or diseases.
Everyone’s situation is different so we take on each case one by one to ensure that it gets the proper attention needed. Our experts in the food industry field will been able to shed light on different areas of your potential case.
Causes
Food poisoning can affect one person or it can occur as an outbreak in a group of people who all ate the same contaminated food.Food poisoning tends to occur at picnics, school cafeterias, and large social functions. In these cases, food may be left out of the refrigerator too long or food preparation techniques may not be clean. Food poisoning often occurs from eating undercooked meats, dairy products, or food containing mayonnaise (like coleslaw or potato salad) that have sat out of the refrigerator too long.
Food poisoning can be caused by:
- Bacillus cereus
- Botulism
- Campylobacter
- Cholera
- E. coli enteritis
- Fish poisoning
- Listeria
- Mushroom poisoning
- Staphylococcus aureus
- Salmonella
- Shigella
- Yersinia
Food Poisoning News
Deaths From Cantaloupe Listeria Rise
By WILLIAM NEUMAN
Published: September 27, 2011
At least 13 people in eight states have died after eating cantaloupe contaminated with listeria, in the deadliest outbreak of food-borne illness in the United States in more than a decade, public health officials said on Tuesday.
Many of the deaths involved elderly people, who are especially susceptible to the aggressive pathogen.
The cantaloupes were grown by a Colorado company, Jensen Farms, which issued a recall earlier this month. The melons, a type marketed as Rocky Ford cantaloupes, named after a region in Colorado, were sold around the country.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that since the outbreak began in late July at least 72 people had fallen ill in 18 states.
The agency said that four people had died in New Mexico, two in Colorado, two in Texas, and one each in Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma. The toll could grow as state health officials wait for test results on other deaths suspected of being part of the outbreak.
Officials said that most of those who died were over age 60. At least two were in their 90s.
Listeria is a common but dangerous bacteria that can cause severe illness, especially among the elderly, the very young and people with compromised immune systems. The pathogen can also cause pregnant women to have miscarriages.
Federal officials have so far provided no information about the number of miscarriages or stillbirths associated with the outbreak. Pregnant women are 20 times as likely as other healthy adults to come down with a severe infection, according to the C.D.C.
John N. Sofos, a professor of food safety at Colorado State University, said that many people who were infected might have only mild symptoms, like diarrhea. But in others, especially those in the most vulnerable categories, the bacteria can aggressively move out of the gastrointestinal tract and attack muscle tissue or the spinal cord, leading to much more severe illnesses like meningitis.
For that reason, the death rate in listeria outbreaks is often much higher than with other forms of food-borne bacteria.
William Marler, a Seattle lawyer who represents victims of food-borne illness, said this outbreak might turn out to be especially deadly simply because cantaloupe is a food eaten by many older people.
"Sometimes in outbreaks, it's the population that's consuming the food that drives the numbers," Mr. Marler said. "In this instance, you've got a lot of people 60 and older who are consuming cantaloupe."
The outbreak appeared to be the third worst in the United States attributed to any form of food-borne illness, in terms of the number of deaths, since the C.D.C. began regularly tracking such outbreaks in the early 1970s.
The deadliest outbreak in the United States since then occurred in 1985, when a wave of listeria illness, linked to Mexican-style fresh cheese, swept through California. A federal database says 52 deaths were attributed to the outbreak, but news reports at the time put the number as high as 84.
The second deadliest outbreak was in 1998 and 1999, when there were at least 14 deaths and four miscarriages or stillbirths in a listeria outbreak linked to hot dogs and delicatessen meats. Some sources put the death toll in that outbreak as high as 21.
With the updated death toll on Tuesday, the Rocky Ford cantaloupe outbreak surpassed the 2008 deaths associated with salmonella-tainted peanuts and peanut butter produced by a Georgia company, the Peanut Corporation of America. That outbreak, which drew a large amount of news coverage, killed nine people and sickened more than 700.
The huge outbreak this year in Europe of a rare form of E. coli bacteria attributed to fenugreek sprouts killed at least 50 people.
Listeria is a common bacteria that can be found in soil, water, decaying plant matter and manure. A strain of the organism, called Listeria monocytogenes, was first found to cause illness linked to food in the early 1980s. Since then, only a handful of listeria outbreaks have been associated with fresh fruits and vegetables. The majority were caused by tainted meat or dairy products.
It can take more than two months for a person exposed to the bacteria to fall ill, which means that it is often difficult to identify a food that carried the pathogen.
Unlike some other bacteria, listeria also grows well at low temperatures, meaning it can be difficult to eliminate from refrigerated areas used to process or store foods.
The Food and Drug Administration said it had found the strain of the bacteria on melons and on equipment in the Colorado farm's packing house. It also found the bacteria on melons in a Denver-area store. Investigators have not said how they believe the contamination occurred.
The F.D.A. recommends that consumers rinse all raw produce, including cantaloupes, under running water. Firm produce, like melons, should be scrubbed with a produce brush. The washed produce should be dried with a clean cloth or unused paper towel, the agency said.
Protect your family from food poisoning
Cargill has recalled 36 million pounds of ground turkey. With such a massive recall, what do you need to know to keep from getting sick?
Yesterday, Cargill recalled 36 million pounds of ground turkey. It's the second largest meat recall in our country's history, falling behind a 143 million pound beef recall in 2008.
So far there have been 76 illnesses reported in 26 states, including one death, due to consumption of ground turkey that has been contaminated with Salmonella heidelberg. This particular strain of Salmonella is resistant to many of the common antibiotics.
The New York Times is reporting that the factory believed to have produced the tainted meat has been shut down. The plant is in Springdale, Ark., and is one of four plants that produce ground turkey for Cargill. The other three plants will remain in operation.
I'm sure there will be a lot of discussion in the upcoming weeks about food safety: Salmonella strains that are getting tougher to fight, the problems with factory farming, the responsibility of Cargill, and other issues that do need to be addressed. But right now, the important thing is to know how to protect your family from becoming seriously ill from tainted meat.
•Some of the tainted ground turkey was sold under the brand Honeysuckle White. That's only some of it, though. It doesn't look as if Cargill has yet released all of the brand names that are associated with the recalled ground turkey. Other brands that get meat from Cargill may be tainted, too. If you have ground turkey in your refrigerator or freezer, and you are not 100 percent sure that it didn't come from Cargill, dispose of it.
•Not all supermarkets remove recalled products from their shelves in a timely manner. Don't assume that ground turkey that is now on the shelves is safe. Supermarkets don't keep these products out purposely, but it may be some time before all markets, especially smaller ones, get the right information.
•If you've eaten ground turkey recently, keep an eye out for symptoms of food poisoning. Fever, stomach cramping, and diarrhea are the most common symptoms. If you're experiencing these symptoms and have had ground turkey recently, contact your doctor. Keep a special eye out for the elderly, the very young, and people who have compromised immune symptoms.
•If you are confident of the source of our ground turkey and you choose to eat it, make sure it is cooked to 165 degrees, and use a meat thermometer to be certain.
•Avoid cross contamination of uncooked ground turkey (or any uncooked meat) with other foods. Utensils, cutting boards, dishes and hands that come in contact with uncooked meat should be washed thoroughly before coming in contact with other foods or objects.
The greatest wealth is health. -Virgil