"Janet Bostwick" > wrote in message
...
>
> Company expands cantaloupe recall to honeydews
>
> By Maggie Fox, NBC News
>
> A North Carolina company that has recalled tens of thousands of
> cantaloupes because of potential food poisoning extended the recall to
> honeydew melons on Tuesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
> said.
>
> Burch Equipment LLC (Burch Farms) of Faison, N.C., is expanding its
> recall to include all of this growing season's cantaloupes and
> honeydew melons that may still be on the market. "The honeydew melons
> involved in this recall expansion do not bear any identifying stickers
> but were packed in shipping cases labeled melons," the FDA said in a
> statement.
>
> "The cantaloupes and honeydew melons involved in this expanded recall
> were sold to distributors in the states of Florida, Georgia, Illinois,
> Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina,
> New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South
> Carolina, Virginia, Vermont and West Virginia, who may have further
> distributed them to other states," the FDA said.
>
> People who bought melons should ask the stores whether they got the
> fruit from Burch Farms.
>
> The FDA said it found the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes (L. mono) on
> a honeydew melon grown and packed by Burch Farms.
>
> Listeria can cause sometimes serious food poisoning, although no one
> has been confirmed sick from this particular recall, FDA said.
> Symptoms of listeriosis include fever and muscle aches, diarrhea and
> other gastrointestinal problems. "The disease primarily affects older
> adults, pregnant women, newborns, and adults with weakened immune
> systems. However, rarely, persons without these risk factors can also
> be affected," FDA says.
>
> It can take anywhere from three days to more than two months to get
> sick after eating food contaminated with Listeria.
>
> Earlier this month, Burch recalled 188,902 melons from stores. Food
> safety officials are especially wary of cantaloupes after one of the
> deadliest foodborne illness outbreaks in U.S. history last year, in
> which contaminated Colorado cantaloupes sickened at least 147 people,
> including at least 30 who died and one woman who had a miscarriage.

Loverly! Guess it's a good thing I gave up buying melons!