Ella Scott
A cantaloupe recall has been upgraded in the United States this week over fatal contamination concerns.
Last month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a voluntary recall notice for cantaloupes sold by Florida-based food distributor Ayco Farms Inc.
The business claimed that taking items off shelves was ‘regulatory protocol’ and that, as the refrigerated fresh fruit has a 30-day shelf life, the products in question were no longer on the market.
“Ayco Farms remains committed to the highest standards of food safety, transparency, and regulatory compliance,” the statement said.
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"Firms that were within the scope of the voluntary recall were contacted directly by Ayco Farms. Ayco Farms remains committed to the highest standards of food safety, transparency, and regulatory compliance."
The affected Lot numbers included: GC26257, GC26270, GC26288, GC26289, GC26290, GC26294, GC26299, GC26301, GC26307, GC26308, GC26311, GC26312, GC26313, GC26318, GC26325, GC26326, GC26328, SCX2601, SCX2606, SCX2611, SCX2614, SCX2622, SCX2625, SCX2629, SCX2633, SGC2601, SGC2602, and SGC2607.
On Monday (20 April), the FDA updated the voluntary recall notice to a Class I recall due to concerns of salmonella contamination, as per People Magazine.
A Class I recall is initiated when ‘there is a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death’, as per the agency.
Salmonella bacteria are the leading cause of foodborne illness in the United States and can cause a myriad of symptoms, including diarrhoea, acute onset of fever and stomach pains.
In dire situations, the illness can cause death if the bacteria enters the bloodstream.
Disease symptoms often occur between 12 and 36 hours after ingestion of contaminated products, with the illness lasting two to seven days on average, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The FDA has described the potentially contaminated Ayco Farms Inc. cantelopes as being fresh and wrapped in food-safe plastic bags.
The items are thought to be packed in 8,302 corrugated cardboard cartons, with each one holding between six and 12 melons.
States affected by the Class I recall include Pennsylvania, Florida, California and New York.
The FDA has not provided specific instructions for the fruit recall; however, experts at Health recommended discarding the recalled cantaloupe and disinfecting any surfaces it may have touched.
Salmonella can survive in the freezer—it simply puts them into a state of hibernation.
This means you should chuck any contaminated melon you have sitting in there, too.
The cantelope recall comes just days after 2lbs bags of Lundberg Organic Jasmine White Rice were hauled from store shelves due to the ‘possible presence of foreign material’.
The potentially contaminated bags were tagged with a 2027 best-before date and were sold at Wegmans Food Market stores, among others, across nine states.
These were Delaware, the District of Columbia, Connecticut, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Virginia.
Anyone in possession of the rice, which had the UPC 073416- 040281, was advised to return the item for a full refund.