Pre-Cut Melons Led to Multistate Salmonella Outbreak

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Dozens of people have fallen sick last month due to a salmonella outbreak. The culprit seems to be pre-cut melons from an Indianapolis food distributor. Eight states had issued a recall of those products.

The products from Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio had to be recalled. These involved packages of fresh-cut watermelon, honeydew melon, cantaloupe, or packs of mixed fruit.

60 Cases of Sickened People

At the moment, officials are investigating if there are other states or products affected by salmonella. Until now, there have been 60 cases of people sickened by the outbreak, with 32 being from Michigan. At least half of the people were hospitalized, according to the information released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. There have been no reports of deaths until now.

The Indianapolis company called Caito Foods is believed to be the source of the outbreak. The company has stated that they were “voluntarily recalling the products out of an abundance of caution.” It also added that until the investigation is finished, they will stop producing and distributing the affected products:

“Because it is possible that products shipped between April 17 and June 7, 2018, could still be on store shelves, this recall extends to both retailers and consumers.”

Throw Away the Pre-Cut Melon

Everyone who fell ill stated that they are pre-cut cantaloupe, watermelon or a fruit salad mix which also contained melon. The products were packaged in clear plastic containers and sent to stores like Walmart, Costco, Kroger, Walgreens and Trader Joe’s.

The CDC recommends all people who bought pre-cut melon and can’t remember the store they purchased from, should also throw it away.

People that are healthy and contract salmonella can recover without treatment after a few days. They can experience fever, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. But some people can experience severe symptoms and need hospitalization. The infection can also lead to death if the patient doesn’t receive antibiotic treatment.

According to CDC estimated, salmonella infections (which comes mainly from food) causes almost 1.2 million illnesses and 450 deaths each year in the U.S.

Doris’s passion for writing started to take shape in college where she was editor-in-chief of the college newspaper. Even though she ended up working in IT for more than 7 years, she’s now back to what he always enjoyed doing. With a true passion for technology, Doris mostly covers tech-related topics.