Salmonella Cantaloupe Outbreak has sickened 162, hospitalized 62 with 3 deaths.
SEATTLE, Wash., November 27, 2023 — “Since last week, U.S. and Canadian health officials reported 162 people with Salmonella, including 62 hospitalized and three deaths, all linked to the consumption of cantaloupe imported from Mexico,” said food safety attorney Bill Marler. “In the U.S. the FDA should use its authority under the Food Safety Modernization Act to stop Mexican cantaloupe imports until the root cause of the outbreak has been determined."
The Salmonella cantaloupe outbreak
As of November 24, 2023, 99 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella have been reported from 32 U.S. states. Illnesses started between October 17 and November 10, 2023. Of 77 people with information available, 45 have been hospitalized and two deaths have been reported in Minnesota. In Canada, there were 63 laboratory confirmed cases of Salmonella in six provinces, individuals became sick between mid-October and mid-November 2023. Seventeen individuals were hospitalized and one death was reported.
The Salmonella cantaloupe recall
Retailers and wholesalers would have received recalled whole melons from Crown Jewels Produce in boxes labeled Malachita/Z Farms or from Sofia Produce doing business as TruFresh in boxes labeled Malichita or Rudy. Whole, fresh cantaloupes were labelled Malichita or Rudy, 4050, and Product of Mexico/produit du Mexique. Additional, secondary recalls have been issued for products that were made using recalled cantaloupes and for produce items that were processed alongside recalled cantaloupes.
Bill Marler has been a food safety lawyer and advocate since the 1993 Jack-in-the-Box E. coli O157:H7 outbreak which was chronicled in the book “Poisoned: The True Story of the Deadly E. Coli Outbreak That Changed the Way Americans Eat” and in the recent Emmy Award-winning Netflix documentary, "Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food." Bill’s work has been profiled in The New Yorker, “A Bug in the System;” The Seattle Times, “30 years after the deadly E. coli outbreak, a Seattle attorney still fights for food safety;” The Washington Post, “He helped make burgers safer. Now he is fighting food poisoning again;” and several others.
Bill regularly speaks about the importance of preventing foodborne illness to industry and government throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, China, and Australia. He is a frequent commentator on food litigation and food safety to Marler Blog. Bill is also the publisher of Food Safety News.
For all media inquiries, please contact Julie Dueck at (206) 930-4220 or jdueck@marlerclark.com.