The FDA has released information about its investigation into the Caito Foods precut melon Salmonella outbreak that has now sickened at least 117 people in 32 states.
The states where ill people live are Alabama, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Thirty-two people have been hospitalized because they are so sick.
Officials are asking that anyone who has purchased precut melon make sure that it is not prepared by Caito Foods. These products include honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon, and products made with those melons, including fruit mix, fruit platters, and fruit salads. Caito Foods recalled their products on April 12, 2019 and has temporarily stopped production while the CDC and state health departments investigate.
The recalled melons were sold in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, but not all of the products were sold in all of those states. The FDA has released the retail distribution list where these recalled products may have been sold. Please look at the recall list carefully.
The stores where the recalled melons may have been sold, according to that list, include Walmart, Amazon Go Convenience Stores, Food 4 Less, Kroger, Target, Trader Joes, Walgreens, Walmart, Martins, Family Fare, Piggly Wiggly, and Bell, along with independent retails, in some states. Not all of these stores in all of the states mentioned may have carried the melons. If you aren’t sure about where the melons you purchased came from, contact your retailer.
The symptoms of a Salmonella infection include fever, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea that may be bloody. Most people get sick within 12 to 72 hours after exposure to the pathogen. And most of these illnesses last about a week.
Because most people recover from Salmonella food poisoning without medical attention, most of these illnesses are unreported. Health experts use a multiplier of 30.3 in Salmonella outbreaks. That means there could be more than 3,000 people ill in this outbreak.
