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Officials: listeria result of sanitation problems

Federal investigators suggest the listeria that tainted cantaloupe and has killed 25 people so far came from a packing shed used by Jensen Farms in Holly, Colorado. Food and Drug Administration officials said Wednesday the contamination was, among other factors, the result of poorly cleaned equipment and wet floors in the plant that are difficult to clean.

Although it’s not clear how the bacteria got into the packing shed, officials cite a truck parked near the shed that was used to haul culled cantaloupes to a cattle operation. Listeria is sometimes found in soil and manure. Officials also expressed suspicions about a lack of what they refer to as pre-cooling to remove field heat from cantaloupes before cold storage.

The 25 deaths occurred in a dozen states. In all, 123 people have been made sick in 26 states.

  • The Hague, Netherlands, October 20th 2011
    Dear Tom Steever ,

    Re: An approved processing aid against Listeria

    On the internet I read your interesting article about Cantaloupes contaminated with Listeria and caused many deaths and sick people.

    I am writing to you because I am a former listeriosis patient. Luckily I had a strong enough immune system so I did not die, but I was very, very sick!

    I gather you do not know of the product called LISTEX P100. Listex is a safe (FDA approved as GRAS = Generally Recognised as Safe) phage preparation produced by the Dutch company Micreos Food Safety in Wageningen. (See link: http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/news/2011/05/usda-approves-listex-as-processing-aid-against-listeria.aspx . ) It is also approved as a processing aid by Health Canada and in many other countries. It is a natural and relatively inexpensive product, much cheaper than destructing a great lot of good product or having to worry night and day about possible product contaminations with Listeria or the bad reputation you can get in your business. A great amount of advertising money down the drain! Above that a lot of investing to save your revenue!

    Micreos’ website is: http://www.micreosfoodsafety.com . In my view it is worthwhile to contact them. They are working worldwide. On the site you will see how it works. The product can also be used on all organic products (OMRI listed), it is effective against only Listeria (leaving even the ‘good’ bacteria in place), and has no effect on any other food properties (color, odor, texture, taste).

    It could also be valuable for a company to use Listex, because it is an approved and effective measure against Listeria monocytogenes and every food producer can use it. Because of the high risk associated with Listeria, if the company does not take measures against it, they could expose themself to liability. Sadly, more than 400 deaths in the US and Canada underscore this!
    Listex is very well known in the food business, it was honoured with the gold award of the Food Ingredients Europe.

    Contacting http://www.Micreos.com can mean the salvage of a company. And also can save many deaths and illnesses like mine!

    To be precise: I am not on the pay list of Micreos Food Safety, I am just working to ban the Listeria bacteria. I do not want other people to suffer from listeriose like I did.

    Perhaps you could write an article about Listex. You can find it on the Internet and Micreos can supply you with all the details you want.

    May I ask you your opinion on how to ban Listeriose on my e-mail g.van.der.feltz@ziggo.nl

    Thank you in advance!

    Gustaaf van der Feltz ( g.van.der.feltz@ziggo.nl )

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