"In May 2011, the Jensens began washing the farm's cantaloupes with devices used to clean potatoes and failed to use a chlorine spray feature that kills deadly bacteria, U.S. Attorney John Walsh said in a statement last month.
"The defendants were aware that their cantaloupes could be contaminated with harmful bacteria if not sufficiently washed," he said. "The chlorine spray, if used, would have reduced the risk of microbial contamination of the fruit."
In addition to the [33] deaths, the listeria outbreak linked to the farm in the southeastern corner of Colorado led 147 people across 28 states to be hospitalized, authorities said. One woman suffered a miscarriage."
30 comments:
This sad story inspires me to never eat cantaloupe again.
Do all cantaloupes require bleach spray in order to be consumed safely?
I hate articles like this. The put in phrases that imply the people committed some crime, but don't actually mention the relevant law. They knew the cantaloupes could be contaminated if not sufficiently washed, but how do you define sufficiently washed? Is chlorine spray legally required of cantaloupe farmers? Did these farmers have any indication that their fruit was contaminated?
Note that I'm not saying they're not guilty. I just wish the article gave enough information to understand what their crime was.
Listeriosis .... one of the benefits of pure "organic" farming and produce.
I've live in Asia for 3 years. "Organic" means "grown in shit."
Virtually everything you eat could potentially be a source of listeriosis. It is most common in ruminants...like beef cattle.
Enjoy. Especially fresh pate' :-)
You should always wash your fruits and vegetables, especially those which have come into contact with the earth. Even those you grow in your own pristine garden. You never know what critter is pooping or peeing in your garden :-) Those that are grown in areas where raw sewage is used to fertilize or waste water is used to irrigate....REALLY wash the stuff. (Yes....Mexico...I mean you) If you cut into a melon that has contamination on the outside of it you will just transfer the bacteria into the inside and the parts that you are going to eat.
We lived in Mexico and went down every summer to live with my Grandmother who had a home in a more rural area as well as an apartment in Mexico City. We would buy our food directly from the growers, and that included chickens freshly killed, plucked and cleaned while we were shopping in the plaza. The things that were NOT going to be cooked...we always washed in an antiseptic wash (Don't remember the brand name)before peeling or cutting up. Lettuce and strawberries we soaked and rinsed well with water from the well inside the kitchen in the house (which we knew was potable)or with bottled water.
A few cases of Montezuma's Revenge and you won't skip on this step!!!
You can buy the disinfectant on line, cholorine dioxide(I think is what we used in) or make your own with vinegar, weak chlorine solution or a mild dish soap solution.
DBQ said ...
... that included chickens freshly killed, plucked and cleaned while we were shopping in the plaza ...
Curiosity question: Were those fresh killed chickens, plucked and cleaned, chilled in a bed of ice before your took them home or did you have to do it yourself when you got home?
Fruit is murder!
Vegetables: Nobody can hear them scream.
Vegetables: Nobody can hear them scream.
I can.
make them stop!
We would look at the chickens, and my grandmother would negotiate for one or rarely two. As we were shopping, going from stall to stall to get the rest of the food for the day or the next day, the vendor would kill the chicken(s) and "process" it. We would then take it home, head and feet still attached, generally with a loop of string tied to the feet for carrying or to be hooked to the side of the basket we were using for shopping. It was then planned to cook it that day. We walked everywhere in town.
She had a smallish refrigerator in a pantry area and there was a well directly in the kitchen (a very old colonial spanish style house probably built in the early 1800's) and we would put the chicken and fresh veggies in a basket and lower it down to just above the water to stay nicely cool. Before cooking we had to pick off more feathers and chop off the head and feet. The feet and neck are good in a stock pot to make broth :-) This was her summer home and she liked to live in this manner when not in the Mexico City apartment. My grandmother was quite bohemian in her lifestyle.
We kids thought it very cool to live this way. Although we did miss the American milk shakes, burgers and fries after awhile. One of the first things we would do back in the States was to hit up a Dairy Queen.
DBQ - I wash everything always, but not in bleach. Not only is it grown in poop but also sprayed with wax, and many grubby hands touched it all along the way.
Still - I don't wash my produce
in bleach.
Ignorance is Bliss - I agree.
The quality of newsgathering and reporting in this country is pathetic.
What were the expectations/laws/regulations here? I doubt these farmers set out to kill people. Not exactly good for business.
charged two former owners of Colorado-based Jensen Farms, brothers Eric and Ryan Jensen, with six counts each of introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce
Apparently they have an affirmative requirement to remove contaminants. The "failed to use" language implies the government cannot prove it was intentional.
DBQ - I'll bet that chicken tasted good.
DBQ wrote: You can buy the disinfectant on line, cholorine dioxide(I think is what we used in) or make your own with vinegar, weak chlorine solution or a mild dish soap solution.
Chlorine dioxide is overkill. Sodium hypochlorite, NaOCl, is normal household bleach and is sufficient. The oxidizing power of the chlorine oxides increases with number of attached oxygens.
Soap is partially effective at killing bacteria because it helps dissolve their cell walls. But I think it's exposure dependent. It should remove the bacteria though even if it doesn't kill it.
And you're right about the knife being the vector for transferring the bacteria from outside into the flesh of the fruit.
Just another in a long list of reasons never to eat fruit or vegetables.
Owsley would second that, Sixty.
Imagine having that on your conscious.
HAY!
Guess what. I have green pants that are too loose and frayed. The birds love 'em. And I mean love. And I'm imagining how much I'll enjoy green pants that fit and are not frayed.
So I looked and looked, high and low and found them. Different types, different greens, and then the exact thing except not loose. Perfect. And a very good price too. Then at checkout it offers 50% off second pair so I bought red. Just in time for Christmas! I can change pants back and forth all day. Then at checkout it gave me free shipping because that put me over. That second pair of pants is a real bargain.
United States Code, 2010 Edition
Title 21 - FOOD AND DRUGS
CHAPTER 9 - FEDERAL FOOD, DRUG, AND COSMETIC ACT
SUBCHAPTER III - PROHIBITED ACTS AND PENALTIES.
...
§331. Prohibited acts
The following acts and the causing thereof are prohibited:
(a) The introduction or delivery for introduction into interstate commerce of any food, drug, device, tobacco product, or cosmetic that is adulterated or misbranded.
...
§342. Adulterated food
A food shall be deemed to be adulterated—
(1) If it bears or contains any poisonous or deleterious substance which may render it injurious to health...
...
§333. Penalties
(1) Any person who violates a provision of section 331 of this title shall be imprisoned for not more than one year or fined not more than $1,000, or both.
@EPR - yeah, and look what happened to him! Oh, he did live to be 76. As you were...
@Sixty: He died in a car wreck, IIRC--nothing diet related.
Sixty, you nut.
I keep a push-bottle of dish washing liquid and water on the kitchen sink, and will briefly wash an apple, cuke, etc.
I confess I never wash lettuce.
As April said, if it's encased in wax, so are germs. It's probably best to peel.
I confess I never wash lettuce.
That was probably the one most prone to e. colibefore porta-pottys become more common. Lots of interleaved structure for the filth to hide in.
I confess I never wash lettuce.
Come to think of it, it's the one vegetable I always wash.
@EPR - I bet the car he was driving was powered by E85 - damn corn will always find a way to kill you!
@deborah - I don't eat nuts, either, and other than peanuts, no legumes. That stuff is deadly, deadly I tells ya!
I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, and have never washed anything. I believe that my own bacteria kills off the intruder bacteria from those awful places.
My bacteria is awesome. It's just like Obama. Everything that it comes into contact with, turns into shit.
AllenS said...
My bacteria is awesome. It's just like Obama. Everything that it comes into contact with, turns into shit.
And just like an Obama speech, if you add some Giardia to your bio-stash your shit will spew explosively and not just be boring lumpy.
Yeah, I know chick, that's why it was a confession. But I'm not going to wash it in a chlorine based solution...so is a vinegar solution okay...if so what strength. It's just that it's so crispy and clean looking I hate to mess.
Allen and Sixty are a couple of rough riders :) (But nuts are delish on their own!)
I don't use chemicals to wash food, deborah. Just mechanical washing with a stream of water.
Ah. Thx.
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