| Oct 19 |
FDA finds source of cantaloupes’ listeria food poisoning at Colorado farmby Bruce Westbrook  Unsanitary equipment has been found to be the cause of a horrific listeria outbreak in tainted cantaloupes which has killed at least 25 Americans in 12 states and sickened about 100 others — the deadliest food poisoning outbreak in America in 25 years.
The Food and Drug Administration says the outbreak was the result of equipment at a southwestern Colorado facility for Jensen Farms which was old and difficult to clean. It also blamed pools of water on the floor of the facility near employee walkways and equipment.
These findings resulted from a joint investigation by the FDA and the CDC, or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Their findings suggest that the listeria strains entering the cantaloupes could have begun at low levels in the fields of produce, then contaminated the storage facility where the fruit was kept. A truck which transported fruit to a cattle business also may have been a factor, along with lack of cooling for the cantaloupes. That may have caused condensation to speed up — along with the growth of bacteria. Other contaminating factors included the floor and the packing equipment at the farm’s packing facility. These were hard to clean and to sanitize properly. The cantaloupes should have been removed from all store shelves since the August and September outbreak. But those who ate them still are at risk, since listeria can take up to three months to manifest after it is consumed. The 12 states where tainted cantaloupes have caused deaths are: Colorado, Texas, New York, Oklahoma, Kansas, Indiana, Maryland, Louisiana, Nebraska, Missouri, Wyoming and New Mexico. If you or a family member has been sickened by bad cantaloupes or other food poisoning, and if you’ve been diagnosed with listeria or other bacterial food poisoning, then notify a skilled food poisoning lawyer or injury attorney with longtime Texas law firm Jim S. Adler & Associates. You may have a legal right to seek financial compensation for your food poisoning losses, such as medical expenses, lost wages and pain and suffering. And this can come via a food poisoning lawsuit. Alert an Adler food poisoning lawyer today, and let us fight for your right to get the money you deserve after a food poisoning injury. Call us at 1-800-505-1414 or send us the free case review form on this page, and we’ll get to work assessing your prospects for a successful food poisoning lawsuit. Leave a Reply |
