North Carolina -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration along with the CDC are investigating a multistate outbreak of Salmonella. The outbreak is linked to pre-cut melon products, which contain cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon or may be mixes of some of all of these.
Caito Foods, LLC of Indianapolis recalled the products because they are potentially contaminated with Salmonella. The company has also temporarily suspended producing these products.
Accodring to CDC, 93 people in 9 states were reportedly sick from eating pre-cut melon sold under various brand names at many stores. They urge consumers to not eat, serve, or sell recalled pre-cut watermelon, honeydew and cantaloupe, or fruit medley products with one of these melons.
The FDA and the CDC have traced the distribution of pre-cut melon mixes from individuals who got sick back to Caito Foods, LLC. Salmonella Carrau is a rare type of Salmonella, but it has been historically seen in imported melons.
The FDA is looking into the shipping records and trying to determine a country, and possibly, a farm of origin for the melons.
The same company was linked to a similar outbreak in 2018, in which there were 77 cases in nine states.
Consumers should not eat the recalled pre-cut melon products that were packaged in clear, plastic clamshell containers and distributed in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
People who bought pre-cut melon products and cannot determine if they were produced by Caito Foods, LLC should throw them away.
The products were sold at:
- Walmart under a Freshness Guaranteed label
- Target under the Garden Highway Label
- Trader Joe's under the Trader Joes label
- Amazon/Whole Foods under the Whole Foods Market Label
- Kroger under the Renaissance Food Group label
- Kroger under Boar's Head Private Label
These products were distributed by:
- Caito Foods Distribution with the label “Distributed by Caito Foods”
- Gordon Food Service with the label “Distributed by Caito Foods”
- SpartanNash Distribution with the label “Open Acres”
Other recalls to check out: