With a 6-week incubation period for Listeria and a 30 per cent fatality rate, the numbers are unfortunately going to grow.
NSW Health reports there are now 13 sick and 4 dead from Listeria linked to rockmelons (cantaloupe) from a farm in Nerico, NSW.
On Sept. 9, 2011, reports first surfaced of an outbreak of Listeria linked to cantaloupe – known as rock melons in Australia — grown in Colorado. Already two were dead and seven others sick.
By the end of the outbreak, 33 people were killed and at least 140 sickened.
On Aug. 17, 2012, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control announced an outbreak of Salmonella linked to cantaloupe that ultimately killed three people and sickened 270 in 26 states.
In Australia, a third death has now been linked to the Listeria-in-rockmelon outbreak, and the number of sick people has risen to 12.
Already, an Australian rockmelon grower is saying “misinformation” about the listeria outbreak will have a negative impact on growers.
The only misinformation – or fake news – is the lack of information to regain consumer confidence and trust.
Sadly, the number of dead and sick will probably grow, because Listeria has an incubation period of up to six weeks. The melon you ate five weeks ago could make you sick with listeriosis tomorrow.
This is not misinformation, it’s biology.
A table (that needs to be updated) of cantaloupe-or-rockmelon-related outbreaks is available here.
About a week ago I was chatting with our contractor – we really spend too much time chatting instead of working, and Amy often intervenes – and somehow we got on about the microbiological risks of cantaloupe (or rockmelon as they call it here).
This morning Australians awoke to the news from the NSW Food Authority that two people have died and eight were sick from Listeria-linked to cantaloupe (not the 3 dead and 7 sick reported earlier).
All states and territories are working together to investigate the outbreak and to date they have identified ten cases in elderly patients in NSW (six), Victoria (one) and Queensland (three) with onset of illness notification dates between 17 January and 9 February 2018. All 10 cases consumed rockmelon prior to their illness.
The outbreak has been linked to a grower in Nericon NSW. The company voluntarily ceased production on Friday 23 February 2018, shortly after being notified of a potential link to illness and is working proactively with the Authority to further investigate how any contamination could have occurred in order to get back into production as soon as possible.
Any affected product is being removed from the supply chain, so consumers can be assured rockmelons currently available on shelves are not implicated in this outbreak, but people may already have listeria-infected rockmelons in their homes purchased at an earlier time.
Contaminated water, fertiliser, contact with animals or insufficient cleaning of rockmelons prior to sale are all risk factors for melons becoming contaminated.
The contamination is on the fruit’s skin, not in the flesh.
NSW Health director of communicable diseases Vicki Shepherd said, “If there are levels of listeria on the skin then when you cut it, it can be transferred into the surface where you then eat it.”
Our contractor said today, did you see the news, guess Doug knows a thing.
It’s easy to know a thing if you pay attention. Rockmelons have been repeatedly linked to previous cases of listeria, including an outbreak that killed 33 Americans in 2011.
A table (that needs to be updated) of cantaloupe-or-rockmelon-related outbreaks is available here.
Listeria monocytogenes has been found on a number of rockmelons from a supplier in New South Wales (NSW, that’s in Australia).
The discovery comes after reports of an outbreak of listeriosis in the Australian state, following an unexpected increase in cases in January and February.
While the link between the farm and the illness cases is not yet conclusive, PMA Australia-New Zealand (PMA A-NZ) said there was sufficient circumstantial evidence to warn at-risk consumers not to consume rockmelon.
“At least 10 people have become infected including three deaths,” PMA A-NZ said in a release. “All cases are people in high risk groups, which includes those who are older, pregnant or have underlying health conditions,”
The NSW Food Authority and NSW Health are currently investigating the outbreak.
Listeriosis is caused by consuming food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria is a bacteria that survives and grows on a number of foods including rockmelon, vegetable salads and fruit salads, cold meats, raw seafood, soft cheeses and seed sprouts.
Jane Hansen of The Northern Star reports that when Amelia Liddy-Sudbury was pregnant with her third child, she was extra careful with her diet, never eating raw fish or soft cheese.
But she didn’t think twice when she bought some pre-cut rockmelon.
“I bought it, cut up and I think that was the source,” the 35-year-old Mosman mum said.
Thirty three weeks into her pregnancy, Mrs Liddy-Sudbury picked up a Listeria infection – one that could have killed her and her baby.
A fortnight later baby Theodore was delivered – five weeks premature – and would need weeks of intravenous antibiotics to stem meningitis.
“It is a deadset miracle he is alive, once you are diagnosed with listeriosis, that’s usually it, the baby is dead,” Mrs Liddy-Sudbury said.
Listeriosis, caused by the food-borne listeria bacteria, kills one out of every five unborn babies it infects.
Two weeks ago another pregnant mother tragically lost her baby to listeriosis.
The woman arrived at hospital with abdominal pain, headache and mild fever. Her baby was delivered by caesarean section but was stillborn as a result of the infection.
Including Mrs Liddy-Sudbury, it was the third pregnancy-related case this year in NSW, three times the usual rate.
NSW Health director Dr Vicky Sheppeard said the three cases represented a concerning spike.
“Around the country there have been more cases in the past six months as well,” she said.
Health authorities are now urgently reminding pregnant woman to be extra careful with their food choices.
Listeria bacteria is found in a variety of foods, including cold meats, cold cooked chicken, raw fish, soft-serve ice cream, soft cheeses and unpasteurised milk.
Most pregnant women know to avoid these foods, but the bacteria is also found in pre-cut fruit and pre-bagged salads, products that are highly popular in supermarkets and convenience stores.
“Those products are becoming more common and anything that has been cut and left is a risk, you have to wash and peel fruit and salad yourself if pregnant,” Dr Sheppeard said.
Uh, maybe.
There are benefits to having an abundant supply of fresh fruits and vegetables.
However, the evidence does lean toward pre-cut anything being a heightened risk.
So if cutting up a whole rockmelon at home, refrigerate immediately.
This makes a mockery of the supermarket chains and fresh produce venders who sell half-sliced melons or cut up produce, usually at room temperature, which in Brisbane, is warmer than most places.
I judged my first science fair this morning.
I’ve done lots of stuff with schoolkids over the years – food is a wonderful teaching tool – but this was tough.
There were 10 of us, judging about 180 projects at one elementary school.
Being the newbie, I got the prep (kindergarten) and grade 1s (grade 2 would have been a conflict of interest).
We had score sheets that will be returned to the students, and I thought, how do I evaluate this, I don’t want to crush the investigative soul of a 6-year-old.
It’s fair game to crush the souls of PhD students and other profs through peer-review, but this felt like peer-review for little kids.
I mainly wrote encouraging things and asked questions.
The things kids think of.
We have an awards thingy later tonight, with the all-Aussie sausage sizzle (yes, I will bring my tip-sensitive digital thermometer and use it, because that is the only data that matters when involving food safety), but I wonder if they’ll serve rockmelon (cantaloupe).
Probably not.
They know who I am, and didn’t serve it at the last school function, after 97 were confirmed sick with Salmonella linked to rockmelon from Red Dirt Farms in the Northern Territories of Australia.
But, as is often, public health seems to take a back seat to biz.
Matt Brann of ABC reports that demand for rockmelons has dived following a salmonella scare earlier this month, which was linked to rockmelons from a farm in the Northern Territory.
(It’s not a scare, it’s an outbreak with lots of sick people).
Christian Bloecker is in the middle of his rockmelon harvest in the Kimberley’s Ord Irrigation Scheme, and said fruit was now being left in the paddock.
“There’s nothing as a farmer that you can really do about it, apart from getting the awareness out there that rockmelons from the Ord are beautiful, fresh and safe to eat,” he said.
Then you’re getting bad advice.
Prove everything you do to produce a safe crop. Look at models in California and Colorado.
Market your food safety at retail.
Some growers are better than others. They should be rewarded.
Soundbites are empty when people are sick.
And as I judged the students this morning, it wasn’t about soundbits and show: it was, show me the data.
Red Dirt rockmelons in Australia’s Northern Territories, have tested positive for Salmonella, at least 97 people are sick across Australia, two major supermarkets are proclaiming their produce safe – in the absence of any supporting data — so the New South Wales Food Authority decided to tweet this morning, “Beware! Food poisoning can come from any food that isn’t handled correctly.”
It’s an animation, stunningly void of content.
And while it’s maybe part of a general campaign, because the majority of the 97 sick with Salmonella-in-rockmelon are based in NSW, maybe the food types have better things to do.
I’m not sure what is the right way to handle cantaloupe is, other than prevention – irrigation water, shit in the soil, dumptank cleanliness (if they are used) and employee sanitation – yet the regulators seem to have come up with their own version of blame-the-consumer (although once it’s cut, refrigerate immediately).
But that’s normal for outbreaks in Australia.
Soon, everyone will go back to sleep.
The only way to have more microbiological safety in foods is to demand it – through media coverage, social media, and marketing food safety, backed up with data.
Instead, all any growers are saying is, it wasn’t us, so please believe us when we tell you it is safe.
Show consumers the data.
Back it up with something other than platitutes.
And don’t fall for the organic, local sustainable, natural and gmo-free nonsense that has nothing to do with the things in food that make people barf.
The Australian Melon Association said the outbreak had now been contained.
“All rockmelons from the affected farm have been removed from supermarket and greengrocer shelves nationwide,” a statement released today said.
“The grower is working with the Northern Territory Health Department to review its operations and will not resupply the market until the all-clear has been given.
Woolworths and Coles have removed all Red Dirt rockmelons from their stores and suspended further orders while health authorities investigate the matter.
A spokesman for Woolworths said only 2.5 per cent of the supermarket’s rockmelon supply nationwide was from the affected farm.
“Customers can continue to purchase alternatively sourced rockmelons from Woolworths with confidence,” he said.
A Coles spokesman said Red Dirt supplied their stores in all states and territories with the exception of Tasmania and Western Australia.
I’m sorry that innocent growers are going to lose sales, but Salmonella and Listeria in rockmelon is nothing new. The best way to manage a crisis is to be prepared.
And don’t depend on associations or government or retailers to do anything other than a meaningless-Bill-Clinton-I-share-your-pain.
They will all still be employed when this moves on.
A table of cantaloupe-related outbreaks is available at https://barfblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Cantaloupe-Related-Outbreaks-8-12.xlsx. It will be updated soon.
After a week of breakfast meetings in St. Louis at IAFP, I’ve seen my share of sliced cantaloupe (sometimes on ice, sometimes not).
I stick to pineapple, grapefruit and strawberries on the continental buffet tables.
Dealing with the fallout of 90+ cases of Salmonella Hvittingfoss linked to Red Dirt Melons industry members are, according to SBS, putting a public relations press to reduce market impacts.
Rockmelon growers in northern Australia will begin a campaign pleading with shoppers to buy their produce in light of a widening salmonella outbreak linked to the fruit.
A total of 97 cases of salmonella linked to rockmelon have been identified by NSW Health in the past seven weeks, including 49 in NSW between June 14 and August 1.
Authorities are still unsure of the outbreak’s origin but melon farmers insist it’s safe to eat rockmelons bought after August 2.
“As far as I’m aware, all of the growers who are still producing rockmelon have had microbial tests done on their produce and they have all been clear,” the Australian Melon Association association’s Dianne Fullelove told AAP.
Sorenne had scooter day today at school.
It’s all part of the active lifestyle thingy the school does – and our school is really good at it, because driving just doesn’t makes sense for the locals – but Sorenne’s scooter has seen better days and now she’s an avid bike rider.
She still got a sausage on white bread – breakfast of champions – and some fruit for her efforts.
The fruit this morning consisted of watermelon and orange slices. I asked the co-ordinator if she considered rockmelon — otherwise known as cantaloupe – and she said, I did last week, but then just didn’t.
And then I heard the news last night.
Food safety Doug, who ruins all the fun for the other kids, gave her a big thumbs up.
Later today, it was confirmed that at least 86 people in Australia have contracted an “exceedingly rare” form of salmonella linked to the consumption of rockmelon.
Red Dirt Melons – a Northern Territories-based supplier – is recalling its rockmelons after Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) launched an investigation into a spike in salmonella cases in a number of Australian states.
Whole rockmelons, as well as pre-sliced melons, can carry the bacteria, and should be avoided, health authorities said.
There have been 86 reported cases of Salmonella Hvittingfoss (S. Hittingfoss) nationally – 43 cases in NSW – in the two weeks to August 1.
It’s a sizeable jump compared to the two cases per month on average in NSW over the last five years.
The people affected by the recent outbreak range in ages, but 49 per cent of cases in NSW were children under five years old.
Victorian authorities are investigating eight suspected cases of salmonella poisoning that may be linked to the fruit.
Red Dirt Melons have begun a recall of their rockmelons after the Salmonella bacteria was detected by health authorities in South Australia on August 2.
Woolworths removed all Red Dirt rockmelons from its stores on Monday evening when they were told of the possible link, a spokesman for the supermarket giant said.
The chain has also suspended any future supply from Red Dirt until the food authorities provide further guidance.
Rockmelons could become contaminated with salmonella due to water contamination, contact with fertiliser, pests or animals, or if the rockmelons were not cleaned properly before sale, The NSW Food Authority said.
Rockmelons have been linked to salmonella poisonings in the past, including in the US in the 1950s, 1960s and in 2002.
The Hvittingfoss strain turned up in Sydney and Adelaide in the past few weeks, according to the Australian Melon Association. Food Standards Australia New Zealand says authorities are investigating and has warned pregnant woman, infants and the elderly not to eat the fruit.
Industry, state and federal authorities are expected to discuss the issue in a teleconference on Wednesday afternoon.
“We want more details so consumers can find out which parts of Australia are not impacted,” melon association spokeswoman Dianne Fullelove told AAP.
“We would like to have our supply chain moving. At the moment it’s virtually stopped.”
Nicevmessage of safety and compassion.
The fruit has previously been linked to salmonella, with 50 cases linked to the Saintpaul strain reported in NSW in 2006. In America in 2011, rockmelon contaminated with listeria was linked to more than 20 deaths (33 – dp).
This chart of Salmonella-in-cantaloupe outbreaks will be updated in the next couple of days. Cantaloupe Related Outbreaks
The most interesting line is again, buried at the bottom of the press release.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration decided to inspect the North Carolina cantaloupe grower that tested positive for listeria and then decided to immediately expand the recall. “The recall expansion is based on unsanitary conditions found at the cantaloupe packing shed during FDA’s ongoing inspection that may allow for contamination of cantaloupes with Listeria monocytogenes.”
Who knows what would make individual growers shape up after 37 dead last year from listeria in cantaloupe. Inspection is a mess, audits seem worse, where’s the leadership?
Sometimes maybe it’s better to just rock: you don’t see bass-player-head bobbing like that or a Larry Robinson Montreal Canadians jersey any more.