A possible listeria illness traced to Colorado cantaloupe has killed as many as 16 people.
Eight deaths and 55 ilnesses across 18 states were linked to the outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week, as reported by CBS News. Since then, state and local health departments in Kansas, Nebraska, Texas and Wyoming have reported six additional deaths that may be linked to the tainted fruit.
The CDC and the Food and Drug Administration said consumers who have cantaloupes produced by Jensen Farms in Colorado should throw them out, the Washington Post reports. Neither the government nor Jensen Farms has supplied a list of retailers who may have sold the fruit.
“If it’s not Jensen Farms, it’s OK to eat,” said Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC, the Wasington Post reports. “But if you can’t confirm it’s not Jensen Farms, then it’s best to throw it out.”
The recalled cantaloupes may be labeled “Colorado Grown,” ‘’Distributed by Frontera Produce,” ‘’Jensenfarms.com” or “Sweet Rocky Fords.” Not all of the recalled cantaloupes are labeled with a sticker, the FDA said, as reported by the Washington Post.
