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Chamberlain Farms responds salmonella claims

An attorney for Chamberlain Farms says the salmonella outbreak that sickened 261 people in 24 states didn’t stem from their melon farm.  Last month the FDA sent a letter to the farm asking for details on how they had improved sanitary conditions at the packing house and farm after the multi-state outbreak.

According to the Princeton Daily Clarion, the farm’s legal counsel, Gary Zhao, issued an official statement that said testing from a microbiologist hired by the farm gives “overwhelming evidence” pointing to land adjacent to their Owensville, Ind. melon field as the possible source of the salmonella outbreak, and not the farm’s packing facilities, equipment, or operations. 

Testing done on salmonella collected at the farm by the FDA matched the DNA fingerprint of the salmonella strain responsible for the outbreak this summer.  Which, the FDA says makes it a source for at least some of the bacteria.

Zhao says the farm will continue to work with the FDA cooperatively.