The frightening news about the outbreak of listeria tied to cantaloupe from Jensen Farms and Frontera Produce continues to pour forth. The latest count has 133 ill and 28 dead with one miscarriage.
In light of this, some food-safety tips directly on point from Dr. David Golden, Ph.D. of Food Microbiology at University of Tennessee is welcome. Some of the salient points from Dr. Golden:
“Rinse it, blot it and cut it,” says Golden, referring to the steps of cleaning the cantaloupe. He also suggests avoiding the use of the same cutting board when cutting off the rind, or simply wash the cutting board before going to the next step after removing the rind.
Dr. Golden also re-iterated a point made here before – due to the long incubation period, the numbers of ill persons may continue to climb: “We may continue to see ill effects of the contamination maybe even up through Christmas because of the slow onset that may occur.”