Not all fruits are created equal. And that's proving to be a point of contention in the wake of the outbreak of listeriosis linked to cantaloupe from Jensen Farms in Colorado. Fifteen people have died from listeriosis, an infection brought on by the listeria bacteria.
Federal health officials say they found listeria throughout the packing facility of the Colorado farm whose cantaloupe have so far caused 25 deaths and more than 125 illnesses.
Twenty-five deaths in 12 states are now linked to listeria in cantaloupe, the deadliest known outbreak of foodborne illness in the U.S. in more than 25 years.
On an October day in the midst of harvest season, two farmworkers sat idly in their home in a Central California town that touts itself as "the cantaloupe center of the world."
A total of 21 people nationwide have now died in the listeriosis outbreak linked to cantaloupes from a Colorado farm, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.
The farm whose cantaloupes were behind the nation's deadliest food-borne illness outbreak in 25 years got a top score - 96% - from a firm auditing the plant's sanitation practices six days before the first person fell ill.
An outbreak of listeria in cantaloupe is now linked to 23 deaths, making it the deadliest known outbreak of foodborne illness in the USA in more than 25 years.