Cantaloupe washing rules 'ambiguous'

Monday, February 20, 2012

It's doubtful charges will ever be laid against Colorado-based Jensens Farms and its owners, the source of a cantaloupe listeria outbreak that killed 29 people last year, according to an article in the Denver Post newspaper.

The story says the Jensens had purchased a used potato sorting machine in 2011 to clean melons after harvesting, believing it was an improvement on a previous system. The Jensens also stopped using antibacterial agents in the one-pass washing system.

However, the machine allowed water to pool dangerously, spreading the listeria, says the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A private auditor had criticized the system, but did not suggest it be changed.

Trevor Suslow, a cantaloupe expert at the University of California-Davis, says the FDA doesn't specify a single safe method of cleaning, cooling or packing the melons and the ambiguity makes prosecution difficult.

The Post says the Department of Justice and FDA officials have refused to acknowledge that they are seeking charges against the Jensens. BF