Opinion
People in Portales, NM are beginning to fear the nation’s largest organic peanut butter plant might not have a future in their community. Their politicians are beating their drums about saving the plant and saving the jobs that go with it. The fear may be justified. A food safety crisis ending in bankruptcy or the… Continue Reading
More than a year after the deadly Listeria outbreak that stemmed from Jensen Farms’ cantaloupes was first detected, criminal charges have yet to be filed against the company, but the Food and Drug Administration’s website says its outbreak investigation is still open. FDA’s report was last updated on January 8, 2012 with information provided by the Centers… Continue Reading
A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in Louisiana’s 26th Judicial District Court in Bossier Parish on behalf of the estate of Francis Gilbert, who died after eating Colorado-grown cantaloupe last year that was contaminated with Listeria. The lawsuit, brought by the personal representative of the estate, Kathleen Buchanan, names the cantaloupe distributor, Frontera Produce,… Continue Reading
Cantaloupes were the source of two deadly outbreaks over two years in two states. But the similarity between the these outbreaks stops there, because this year it’s taking longer to put the story together, in part because everything is moving slower. Last year, Colorado put out its first health warning about the deadly Listeria outbreak… Continue Reading
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has raised the official death toll of last year’s cantaloupe-linked Listeria outbreak from 30 to 33. Since the CDC issued its final outbreak report on December 8 2011, 3 more outbreak victims have died, but federal health officials had yet to confirm that these deaths were a… Continue Reading
The U.S. Attorney for Colorado is close to finishing a federal criminal investigation into the deadly 2011 Listeria outbreak associated with cantaloupes from Jensen Farms, the nonprofit Denver-based I-News Network reports. James Pena, who heads the U.S. District Attorney’s health care fraud task force, called the Listeria outbreak “an important public health issue,” according to… Continue Reading
Opinion
Will producers of Listeria-tainted cantaloupe be fined or jailed? Earlier this week Food Safety News reported that the CDC had increased the numbers of those considered to be culture-confirmed cases from the 2011 cantaloupe Listeria outbreak from 146 to 147 and confirmed that the death toll now stands at 33. Of course, the death toll… Continue Reading
With at least 146 sickened with as many as 37 dead, the 2011 Listeria cantaloupe outbreak is one of the deadliest outbreaks U.S. history. The demographics associated with this monumental outbreak, due in significant part to the propensity of Listeriosis to affect the elderly, have given us the opportunity to explore history. Several of my… Continue Reading
Jensen Farms – the Colorado company whose cantaloupes were linked to last year’s Listeria outbreak that sickened 146 people and killed 36 – has indicated that it is likely to settle cases brought against it by 39 victims and their families. After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, the grower says it is likely… Continue Reading
Jensen Farms, the Colorado cantaloupe grower responsible for last year’s Listeria cantaloupe outbreak, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The bankruptcy filings list a number of wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits filed against the farm that resulted from the outbreak that sickened 146 people and killed 36. According to Jensen Farms’ bankruptcy… Continue Reading
The few Colorado farmers who grow the same brand of cantaloupe implicated in last year’s Listeria outbreak — the most deadly outbreak of foodborne illness in the U.S. in decades — are falling into line with growing and packing reforms that originated in California. The California-centered U.S. cantaloupe industry is bending other growing areas to… Continue Reading