FLL Food Factor Meet the Experts
Listeria is on the outside of the cantaloupe.
Listeria is in the soil or manure/fertilizer
Listeria develops over a span of 3 to 70 days
Washing food can help prevent food carrying diseases
Water can be a cause of food borne illnesses
It grows in refrigerator temperatures and is more heat-resistant than other bacteria
Can scan for Listeria
Is everywhere; will transfer from one organism to another
Contaminated cantaloupes come from Jensen Farms
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The outbreak, first detected in September and traced back to a Colorado farm, has sickened a total of 139 people in 28 states, the CDC says. In addition to the 29 deaths, one woman who was pregnant at the time she fell ill suffered a miscarriage.
The toll makes the current outbreak the deadliest among adults and children since the agency started keeping track of listeria cases in 1973, though a 1985 outbreak in California involved 28 deaths and another 20 stillbirths and miscarriages, CDC spokeswoman Lola Russell said, according to CDC figures.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said it is unable to pinpoint the reason for the outbreak, but unsanitary conditions in a packing facility in the Granada, Colorado, farm is a suspected contributing cause.
Listeria victim's wife: It's 'pure hell'The agency notified Jensen Farms in October that likely causes included packing equipment that "was not easily cleaned and sanitized" and the use of washing and drying equipment for cantaloupe packing as well as other raw agricultural commodities.
In addition, the agency said in a statement, the facility lacked a "pre-cooling step" to remove field heat from the cantaloupes before cold storage, possibly leading to condensation in the cooling process that promoted growth of the listeria bacteria.
Listeria is on the outside of the cantaloupe.
Listeria is in the soil or manure/fertilizer
Listeria develops over a span of 3 to 70 days
Washing food can help prevent food carrying diseases
Water can be a cause of food borne illnesses
It grows in refrigerator temperatures and is more heat-resistant than other bacteria
Can scan for Listeria
Is everywhere; will transfer from one organism to another
Contaminated cantaloupes come from Jensen Farms
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- A listeria outbreak that started in Colorado has now killed 29, CDC says
- CDC: It's the deadliest listeria outbreak among adults and children since the 1970s
- An outbreak in 1985 killed 28 people, and caused stillbirths and miscarriages
The outbreak, first detected in September and traced back to a Colorado farm, has sickened a total of 139 people in 28 states, the CDC says. In addition to the 29 deaths, one woman who was pregnant at the time she fell ill suffered a miscarriage.
The toll makes the current outbreak the deadliest among adults and children since the agency started keeping track of listeria cases in 1973, though a 1985 outbreak in California involved 28 deaths and another 20 stillbirths and miscarriages, CDC spokeswoman Lola Russell said, according to CDC figures.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said it is unable to pinpoint the reason for the outbreak, but unsanitary conditions in a packing facility in the Granada, Colorado, farm is a suspected contributing cause.
Listeria victim's wife: It's 'pure hell'The agency notified Jensen Farms in October that likely causes included packing equipment that "was not easily cleaned and sanitized" and the use of washing and drying equipment for cantaloupe packing as well as other raw agricultural commodities.
In addition, the agency said in a statement, the facility lacked a "pre-cooling step" to remove field heat from the cantaloupes before cold storage, possibly leading to condensation in the cooling process that promoted growth of the listeria bacteria.