US: FDA reports on cantaloupe safety inspections
Photo: Jon Fife / Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0
The Packer: After inspecting 17 operations, federal officials report that fresh cantaloupe packinghouses are generally following good agriculture practices even though tests at nine of the companies showed Listeria contamination.
The inspections by the Food and Drug Administration were part of the agency’s follow-up efforts after a 2011 cantaloupe-related Listeria monocytogenes outbreak that sickened more than 150 nationwide and killed more than 30.
Eight firms did not have any positive Listeria test results. One had pathogenic Listeria present and the other eight tested positive for non-pathogenic Listeria.
“Such findings do, however, suggest the potential for (pathogenic) Listeria monocytogenes to be present,” according to the report.