Since discussing the listeria contamination from one mega-farm in Colorado (here and here), the continuing evidence of dysfunction has now reached Alabama. Alabama has its first illness resulting from the contaminated cantaloupes.
Why is Alabama importing cantaloupes from Colorado? Can we not produce enough cantaloupes on our own? Because the food system has become so overly-concentrated and centralized, the prospects that our food (like cantaloupes) can become weapons of mass destruction. While all evidence points to negligence in this case, what would happen in the case of malintention?
By way of update: 1 farm caused 15 deaths (and rising), 84 illnesses (and rising), across 19 states (and rising).
UPDATE: 23 deaths an 100 illnesses.
UPDATE 10/7/2011: 21 Dead, 109 Sickened in 23 States
UPDATE 11/2/11: Death toll has reached 29.
October 3, 2011 at 4:57 pm
85% of cases of Listeria infection are from deli meats.
While lower risk sources-such as fruits (cantaoupe) and vegetables-can become contaminated, we need to put things into perspective by understanding which foods put us at highest risk for Listeria or other microbial infections.
The Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at the Humane Society of the United States, Dr. Michael Greger M.D. says:
“This is evidently the first time cantaloupes have been considered a culprit. The FDA/USDA Listeria risk assessment identifies deli meats as the only “very high risk” food category, accounting for an estimated 85% of cases. On a per serving basis, deli meats were identified as the riskiest, followed by hot dogs, meat pâté, unpasteurized milk, and seafood. Other dairy products, including cheese and pasteurized milk, fell into the moderate risk category, while fruits and vegetables were classified as low risk, coming in at relative risk ranking of 14 and 18, respectively (the top 13 riskiest food groups were all meat and dairy).”
Anyone concerned about Listeria, or other harmful outbreaks, MUST READ Dr. Greger’s full post!
COPY AND PASTE THIS URL TO READ FULL POST:
http://nutritionfacts.org/blog/2011/09/30/cantaloupe-and-listeria-an-estimated-85-of-cases-are-from-deli-meats-not-melons/