BOISE, ID. – Idaho’s Health and Welfare Department learned today that recalled cantaloupe melons made their way to an Aberdeen food distributor. These fruits could be contaminated with Listeria according to Emily Simnitt, a Health and Welfare spokeswoman. She said, “Those 43,000 pounds of cantaloupe were donated to the public between the end of August and beginning of September.”
They were given away before cantaloupes from Jensen Farms of Colorado were linked to Listeria. The food distributor, Select Express, thought the melons were too ripe to be sold. One Jerome County woman in her sixties fell ill around that time. Simnitt said, “We have confirmed that she has, or had, Listeria. She has since recovered. But we’re still waiting for confirmation that it is the same strain that has been part of this multi-state outbreak.”
Dozens of people in nearly twenty states have been infected with Listeria as part of the outbreak. More than a dozen have died. The bacteria can cause illness within days but it could also take as long as two months.
Copyright 2011 Boise State Public Radio