Tainted Cantaloupes Kill 1, Sicken 30

Cantaloupes contaminated with a rare type of salmonella have caused one death in Riverside County and sickened 30 others in California and seven other states over the last two months.

California Department of Health Services officials say other cases could be confirmed in coming weeks as more samples from infected individuals are received by state laboratories.

The source of the bad cantaloupes is being traced, but state officials believe they were imported from Mexico or South America, regions that produce the fruit while U.S.-grown melons are still ripening.

Outbreaks of the rare salmonella poona in cantaloupe occurred twice in the last decade. A 1991 outbreak, traced to cantaloupes grown on the Texas-Mexico border, sickened 400 people in 23 states. Last year, contaminated melons from Mexico were sold in California and several other states, sickening 39 people in five states.

State officials say the reappearance of the bacteria on cantaloupes is alarming and that the Food and Drug Administration should take it up with the Mexican government if a Mexican source is confirmed. FDA officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Salmonella poona causes the same symptoms as other types of salmonella, including fever, abdominal cramps and diarrhea, usually one to three days after the tainted food is ingested. Although generally not life-threatening, the illness can pose a greater danger to young children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems.

The one fatality in this outbreak, a Riverside County nursing home resident, was hospitalized with vomiting and diarrhea and died two days later, on April 9, said Jeff Farrar, leader of the state Department of Health Services’ emergency response team.

Meanwhile, five illnesses have been reported in Los Angeles County, three in Orange County and two each in Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties, as well as a case in San Diego.

Other reports of tainted cantaloupes have come from as far as New York and Tennessee.

Most of the individuals became ill after eating melons purchased at supermarkets and cut up at home, according to a state report. However, some ate already-cut cantaloupe served in restaurants.

Because cantaloupe has a rough exterior and grows on the ground, it is more likely to pick up this bacteria, Farrar said. Because the rind often is discarded, consumers are less likely to wash it before slicing it. When a knife cuts through the rind, it spreads the bacteria to the fruit.

State officials are urging people to scrub cantaloupes under running water before cutting them and to wash their hands before and after handling them. However, food safety officials say those steps do not eliminate the risk.

“Even with these precautions, you can still get sick from contaminated fruits and vegetables,” said Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “The best washing can’t eliminate the bacteria that has gotten into the pores.”

Fruit and vegetables pick up salmonella bacteria from manure used as fertilizer, contaminated irrigation water and fecal contamination from animals and the hands of pickers. DeWaal has tracked 82 outbreaks of food poisoning from fruits and vegetables from 1990 to 1999.

However, she believes the number of fruit-and-vegetable-borne illnesses isn’t escalating rapidly, just the awareness of the role produce can play in spreading diseases. So the number of reported cases is rising.

She says this outbreak doesn’t mean that imported fruits and vegetables are more risky than those grown on domestic farms. Both pose problems, she said.

Almonds exported from California to Canada in March, for instance, were recalled after they were found to contain a salmonella bacteria that sickened more than 100 people, according to the Canadian Food Inspection service.

Dean Cliver, a UC Davis food science professor, said Americans may be more susceptible to some types of bacteria on imported fruits and vegetables because we haven’t built up a resistance to them yet.

But, he said, it’s risk the nation must accept if it wants supermarkets to stock a wide variety of produce year-round.

“We’re expecting to get goodies from around the world, eat them without cooking them, and not get sick. That’s just not a realistic expectation,” Cliver said.