HEALTHY CANTALOUPES CAN MAKE YOU ILL

Cantaloupes are one of my favorite foods - not just for dessert, but as a side dish to fish and even with certain meat. I also like to think of cantaloupe as healthy - a good source of folate (an important B-vitamin micronutrient needed for healthy growth and cell maintenance), of carotenoids, vitamin C and of potassium. But almost every year in the U.S. we have dangerous bacteria turning up in cantaloupes and widespread cantaloupe recalls.

In mid August, Burch Farms recalled the cantaloupes and melons they had distributed because of Listeria monocytogenes bacteria being found. Now DFI Marketing Inc. of Fresno, California, is recalling their cantaloupe products, because testing turned up Salmonella bacteria.

And this is not some tiny recall. These DFI cantaloupes were distributed a week or more ago( primarily to retail customers) in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, in the U.S. and in Mexico. (Presumably they also were grown in Mexico).

The company assumes that most of them have been eaten by now. So, if you have been eating cantaloupe, and have been, or are ill with food poisoning symptoms, this may be the cause.

I was tempted to buy cantaloupe today, but I didn't. As usual, in cases like this, I draw a wide circle around a recalled food item, until we find out if the recall expands...

To your good health,

TSF