Government
health officials have issued a final tally for a months-long outbreak
of listeria food poisoning in contaminated cantaloupe: 146 sick and 30
dead. Those numbers reflected infections in 28 states tied to tainted
whole melons from Jensen Farms of Holly, Colorado, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention reported. Faulty processing and shipping
practices at the firm’s Granada, Colorado, packing facility led to the
dozens of illnesses and deaths – and devastated the melon market in
several states. The outbreak is the worst since a California listeria
outbreak in 1985 in which contaminated Mexican-style fresh cheese caused
52 deaths, including many stillbirths, according to the CDC.
