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FDA Warns Customers in 10 More States Not to Eat Cut Melon Linked to Salmonella Outbreak

The FDA has posted a full list of retailers and locations where it believes the contaminated melon was sold

What to Know

  • Caito Foods recalled pre-cut watermelon, honeydew melon, cantaloupe and fruit medleys containing at least one of those melons
  • A salmonella outbreak was linked to the products
  • At least 60 people in five states have been sickened

Health officials on Thursday added 10 more states to the list of retail locations that may have received cut melons possibly contaminated with salmonella, bringing the total number of states to 23.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Caito Foods LLC recalled pre-cut watermelon, honeydew melon, cantaloupe and fruit medleys containing at least one of those melons that were produced at its facility in Indianapolis.

The full list of states now includes: Alabama, California, 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 CDC said the fruit was distributed and sold in clear plastic clamshell containers at Costco, Jay C, Kroger, Payless, Owen's, Sprouts, Trader Joe's, Walgreens, Walmart and Whole Foods/Amazon.

The FDA has posted a full list of retailers and locations where it believes the contaminated melon was sold.

Consumers who have purchased cut melon from these locations should throw it away. In addition, the agency has advised retailers not to serve or sell precut melon products distributed by Caito Foods Distribution, Gordon Food Service or SpartanNash Distribution.

According to the CDC, at least 60 people became ill between April 30 and May 28 in five Midwestern states, where the outbreak was initially reported. 

Although the FDA has expanded the list of states warned about consumption of melon, the CDC has not updated the number of illnesses reported.

The CDC says 31 of the people sickened have been hospitalized, but there have been no deaths reported.

Symptoms of salmonella include diarrhea, fever and abdominal pain that begins 12 to 72 hours after eating the contaminated food. Most people recover in four to seven days.

According to the CDC, salmonella is to blame for 23,000 hospitalizations and 450 deaths every year in the United States.

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