Avoid Presliced Melon for Now, Consumer Reports Says

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Consumer Reports is recommending that consumers avoid buying and eating presliced melon until the end of June and discard any that they've already purchased. That’s because in the past two months, 70 people in the U.S. have gotten sick from a dangerous strain of salmonella bacteria, likely from eating presliced watermelon, honeydew, or cantaloupe shipped to major retailers across the country.

When public health officials first announced the outbreak on June 8, it appeared to be contained to nine states in the Midwest.

But as the investigation into the outbreak has unfolded, the Food and Drug Administration announced late Thursday that the recall has now expanded to 22 states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin). The update originally included California, but the FDA removed it from the list on Friday.

“As the distributor and the FDA figure out where the melon has gone in the supply chain, more and more states are being added to the alert,” says James E. Rogers, Ph.D., director of food safety research and testing at Consumer Reports. “This makes it challenging for consumers to keep up with a rapidly changing situation.”

The Problem With Presliced Melon

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 34 people have been hospitalized due to eating contaminated melon. So far, all illnesses have occurred in seven states (the majority are in Michigan; the rest are in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee). No deaths have been reported.

Caito Foods, a packager and distributor based in Indianapolis, voluntarily recalled the affected products and, along with the FDA, is advising retailers to pull them from their store shelves. The last shipment to retailers was on June 7.

The packages were shipped in clear-plastic clamshell containers to major retailers including Costco, Jay C, Kroger, Payless, Owen’s, Sprouts, Trader Joe’s, Walgreens, Walmart, and Whole Foods/Amazon. The FDA is frequently updating a list of retailers (PDF) involved in the recall, and their addresses.

“We’re going through the company’s records and we’re finding new information,” says a spokesperson for the FDA.

The FDA is also maintaining a list of affected products, along with their UPC codes, on its outbreak update page. The FDA spokesperson suggested that people follow the agency on social media at their two Twitter handles, @US_FDA and @FDAfood.

But, says CR's Rogers, the FDA’s advice is very difficult for consumers to follow. “Some can't or won't look for a UPC code when shopping in the grocery store,” he says. “And some may not even know what a UPC code is.”

If you decide to eat cut melon, be sure to check the UPC code against the FDA’s list. You can find the UPC code on the bottom of a barcode on the product’s packaging.

“If you are concerned or not sure where to find the UPC code, you can avoid precut melon until the end of the month, when you can be assured the contaminated melon will no longer be on the market,” says Rogers.

Remember, too, to throw away (or check the UPC codes) any melon you’ve stashed in your freezer. “Fruit is one of those things where, especially with this kind of fruit, people freeze and keep it for longer,” says an FDA spokesperson.

If there’s any doubt about whether your melon is involved in the recall, toss it.

Melon Isn’t the Only Problem

There have been several food poisoning outbreaks recently. Last fall, E. coli-tainted flour sickened 63 people across 24 states and hospitalized 17. This past spring, romaine lettuce contaminated with E. coli sickened 197 people across 35 states, sending 89 people to the hospital and killing 5. And salmonella-tainted eggs sickened 45 across 10 states, and sent 11 to the hospital.

Just this week, the FDA announced that 73 people across 31 states have been sickened with salmonella after eating Kellogg’s Honey Smacks Cereal; 24 have been hospitalized. As of June 15, the FDA is advising people to not eat any Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal (you can find a list of the recalled products on the FDA’s site), and to throw out any box you have at home or return it to the store for a refund. 

Editor’s Note: This article was updated on June 20 to reflect the FDA's announcement of new illnesses in new states involved in the outbreak.

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