Cantaloupe at Indiana farm match Salmonella outbreak strain
Cantaloupe at Indiana farm match Salmonella outbreak strain
WASHINGTON — The Food & Drug Administration announced Aug. 28 that cantaloupe collected at Owensville, IN-based Chamberlain Farms Produce Inc. tested positive for the outbreak strain of Salmonella that has sickened 178 people in 21 states.
Referred to as the "smoking gun" by a spokesman for FDA, the positive samples for Salmonella Typhimurium were collected during the Aug. 14-16 inspection of the Indiana farm. The agency, which also collected samples from surface areas of the farm in cooperation with the Indiana State Department of Health, has yet to release the inspection report that may point to the possible cause of the contamination.
As of Aug. 23, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 178 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella, 62 have been hospitalized and two people in Kentucky died as a result of the outbreak.
On Aug. 22, Chamberlain Farms recalled cantaloupe grown at its farm, and the company stopped producing and distributing cantoupe on Aug. 16 after FDA alerted the business the products could be the source of the outbreak. Records indicate the cantaloupe was initially shipped to Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin, although further shipment was likely, FDA said.
In the meantime, Giant Food, a Landover, MD, supermarket chain, announced it removed from the shelves Daniella mangos after Splendid Products, a Burlingame, CA, supplier, issued a recall in connection to another Salmonella outbreak. Other retailers, including Costco and Stop and Shop, announced similar recalls in recent days.
Canadian authorities said importer, Mex Y Can Trading Inc., Mississauga, ON, was voluntarily recalling affected mangoes from the marketplace in connection to illnesses in Canada as part of the Salmonella Braenderup outbreak.
California news reports say the outbreak includes 73 people in that state, many of which remember eating mangos.
