Indiana Melon Growers Face New FDA Rules after Salmonella Outbreak

Southwestern Indiana’s melon growers are facing new federal regulations following last year’s salmonella outbreak that killed three people who ate Indiana-grown cantaloupes.

Workshops were recently held to educate melon farmers and their workers about the Food and Drug Administration’s new expectations for protecting consumers from food-borne pathogens.

The FDA will be inspecting packing sheds and possibly field conditions as well as part of that effort.

Purdue Extension educator Scott Monroe tells the Washington Times-Herald the State Department of Health has hired two farm food safety consultants to assist in the farm produce education campaign.

A salmonella outbreak traced to a southwestern Indiana cantaloupe farm killed three Kentucky residents last year. That outbreak followed a 2011 Listeria outbreak that killed 33 people who ate Colorado-grown cantaloupes