Michigan Cantaloupe Distributor Warns of Listeria Contamination

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.Heeren Brothers Produce, a wholesale distributor, is recalling approximately 5,400 cantaloupes because the product may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

The company is advising consumers to discard the produce, which was distributed to small, independent grocers in Michigan July 23-26.

Heeren Brothers Produce stated it was not aware of any reported illnesses related to the "Athena Cantaloupes".

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) brought the matter to the attention of Heeren Brothers Produce after the agency conducted a routine sampling and discovered the cantaloupes contained the bacteria.

"After receiving notice from the FDA, Heeren Brothers Produce immediately alerted retailers and requested that they remove the produce from their shelves," the company stated.

The source of the contamination is still under investigation, the company added. 

Listeria can prove fatal, as evidenced by the 2011 cantaloupe outbreak that was linked to 147 illnesses in 28 states, including 33 deaths and one miscarriage. In that catastrophe, FDA identified a number of potential causes of the outbreak, including the cantaloupe farm's failure to wash the cantaloupes with an antimicrobial solution such as chlorine.