Watermelons Recalled as 18 Become Ill

Watermelons were ordered pulled from grocery bins across the state, and Californians were asked not to eat melons they had already purchased when reports surfaced Thursday that at least 18 people suffered sudden illnesses after ingesting the popular summertime fruit.

The action by state health officials followed by a day a similar move in Oregon and southern Washington, where at least 15 illnesses have been linked to a possible pesticide contamination of watermelons, officials there said.

It was not immediately known if the two outbreaks of illnesses--both presenting symptoms of nausea, vomiting and gastrointestinal pain--were related. Preliminary reports indicated that the California melons and the northwest melons were grown in different areas, California Health Director Kenneth W. Kizer said Thursday.

Illnesses in Six Counties

California’s emergency recall was prompted by illnesses in Los Angeles, Orange, Kern, Alameda, Lake and Marin counties, Kizer said. Until more is known about the cause of the illnesses, retail groceries were ordered to isolate the melons in storage areas and residents were urged to hold off adding the fruit to holiday celebrations.

State health officials may know as early as today whether the melon-eating ban can be lifted, isolated to certain distributors or extended through the holiday weekend. Pending the results of tests on possibly contaminated fruit, Kizer said, health officials were treating the outbreak of illness as a “fairly serious” matter.

“Until we know, we have to assume the worst,” he said.

Three weeks ago, state health officials ordered a recall of contaminated Mexican-style cheeses manufactured by Jalisco Mexican Products Inc. of Artesia after linking it to deaths and illnesses. Since then, 55 deaths and still-births have been blamed on the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, which officials said was present in the cheese.

Authorities made it clear Thursday that the possible watermelon contamination is not as threatening. Although the gastrointestinal illnesses are discomfiting, “deaths are unlikely,” Kizer said.

The Independence Day holiday complicated efforts to limit the potential effect of a contamination outbreak, Kizer said. Watermelon season is at its peak, and consumption of the fruit on the Fourth of July is as traditional as fireworks. Also, the holiday closure of government offices and grocery distribution centers handicapped state health officials trying to determine the breadth of the problem.

“It couldn’t have come on a worse day,” Kizer said.

The first illnesses occurred in southwest Washington and near Portland in Oregon earlier this week. After determining that the symptoms were consistent with pesticide poisoning, health officials found traces of the pesticide Aldicarb in melons taken from an Oregon grocery store, health officials there said. Aldicarb, sold under the brand name Tenik, is approved for use on some fruits, but not watermelons, according to Dalton Hobbs of the Oregon Agriculture Department.

All of the implicated Oregon-Washington melons were believed to have been shipped by United Grocers Inc. of Milwaukie, Ore., which supplies scores of stores in the Pacific Northwest.

Cases Across State

While the investigation into the contaminated melons continued in the Northwest, California officials discovered similar cases scattered across the state.

In Los Angeles, officials of Vons Grocery Co. voluntarily pulled watermelons from eight of their stores early Thursday--before the late afternoon recall--when six employees suddenly became ill after sharing a melon at the firm’s El Monte distribution center.

The voluntary recall included 3,600 melons brought in a truckload from Colton & Wood distributors in Los Angeles, according to Bill Davila, president and chief operating officer of Vons.

Abe Colton, the distributor, said the Vons truck was one of two truckloads he received from a grower in Wheeler Ridge, 20 miles south of Bakersfield. Neither he nor the grower, who has sold 5,000 tons of watermelons this year, had received a complaint before Thursday, Colton said.

Kizer said the origin of the melons may mean that officials in Oregon and officials in California are tracking two separate contaminants. The Oregon melons, unlike the California melons, were believed to have been grown either in Yuma, Ariz., or El Centro.

Shipping Halted Too

In addition to temporarily stopping the sale of melons and cautioning residents not to eat them, Kizer also ordered a halt to the shipping of melons from Kern County and all other counties where they are grown.

“We don’t want them (to be sold) until we know the distribution patterns” and can track where possibly contaminated watermelons were grown, he said.

The six Vons workers represented one-third of the reported cases of watermelon-induced sicknesses, state health officials said.

Six cases were reported in Kern County--house painters who shared a watermelon during a break and became violently ill. Three cases were listed in Lake County and one each in Alameda, Orange and Marin counties.

All of those treated have recovered, officials said. Although the symptoms are not generally life-threatening, victims in three cases--all in Lake County--suffered “moderately serious” heart disturbances along with the gastrointestinal symptoms, Kizer said.

In all three Western states, investigations by local and state officials were being aided by representatives of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.