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Regulators Cracking Down On Cantaloupe Farmers

Posted: 9:37 PM Feb 26, 2013
Reporter: AP

Federal regulators are offering help to state inspectors, warning cantaloupe farmers and packers that they will be testing melons for pathogens this year after two years of illness and recalls.

The warnings were issued Monday following a listeria outbreak traced to Colorado's Jensen Farms that killed 33 people in 2011. Another outbreak last year was traced to salmonella at an Indiana cantaloupe packer.

The Denver Post reports the Food and Drug Administration does not routinely target an industry for scrutiny, and inspectors usually check smaller farms or food packers once every few years.