XPost: sac.politics, alt.politics.democrats, misc.survivalism   
   XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   From: htimes@pos.co   
      
   The owners of a Colorado cantaloupe farm were arrested Thursday   
   on charges stemming from a 2011 listeria epidemic that killed 33   
   people in one of the nation's deadliest outbreaks of foodborne   
   illness.   
      
   Federal prosecutors said brothers Eric and Ryan Jensen were   
   arrested on misdemeanor charges of introducing adulterated food   
   into interstate commerce.   
      
   The Jensens' attorney did not immediately return a call seeking   
   comment.   
      
   Prosecutors said the federal Food and Drug Administration and   
   the Centers for Disease Control determined that the Jensen's   
   didn't adequately clean the cantaloupe.   
      
   The FDA has said the melons likely were contaminated in Jensen   
   Farms' packing house. It concluded that dirty water on a floor,   
   and old, hard-to-clean equipment probably were to blame.   
      
   The epidemic was the deadliest outbreak of foodborne illness in   
   25 years, and it delivered a serious blow to Colorado cantaloupe   
   farmers. The CDC said people living in 28 states consumed the   
   contaminated fruit.   
      
   A number of lawsuits were filed by people who were sickened or   
   who had a family member die after the outbreak.   
      
   Eric Jensen, 37, and Ryan Jensen, 33, operated their farm in   
   southeastern Colorado. The farm filed for bankruptcy after the   
   outbreak.   
      
   The FDA said Jensen Farms had bought the used processing   
   equipment just before the outbreak, and it was corroded, dirty   
   and hard to clean. The packing facility floors also constructed   
   were so they were hard to clean, so pools of water potentially   
   harboring the bacteria formed close to the packing equipment,   
   according to the FDA.   
      
   The dirty equipment previously was used to wash and dry   
   potatoes, the agency said, and the listeria could have been   
   introduced as a result of its past use.   
      
   The FDA said the way the cantaloupes were cooled after being   
   picked may have exacerbated the listeria growth, and that   
   another possible source of contamination was a truck that   
   frequently hauled cantaloupe to a cattle operation and was   
   parked near the packing house.   
      
   The outbreak was a setback for farms in Colorado's revered Rocky   
   Ford cantaloupe region, where hot, sunny days and cold nights   
   produce fruit known for its distinct sweetness.   
      
   Jensen Farms was about 90 miles away from Rocky Ford, but the   
   Jensens used the Rocky Ford name, and sales dropped across the   
   region.   
      
   Later, Rocky Ford farmers patented the Rocky Ford name, hired a   
   full-time food safety manager and built a central packing   
   operation where melons are washed and rinsed.   
      
   http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/owners-cantaloupe-   
   farm-arrested-deadly-listeria-outbreak-article-1.1468619   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)