Food safety regulators put US cantaloupe growers on notice after outbreak deaths

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is stepping up oversight of the cantaloupe industry following a pair of illness outbreaks linked to more than 400 illnesses and three dozen deaths.

In a letter issued this week to industry groups, FDA announced plans to initiate inspections at packinghouses during the 2013 growing season.

“The aim of these inspections is in part, to assess the current practices by this segment of the produce industry and to identify insanitary conditions that may affect the safety of cantaloupe destined for distribution to consumers,” wrote Michael Landa, director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

“In the event of adverse findings, we will take action as needed to protect the public health,” Landa wrote.

The increased scrutiny comes as FDA is working to enact a pair of sweeping proposed rules that represent the biggest food safety overhaul in more than 70 years. But the new regulations, now in a recently extended public comment phase, are many months off.

In the meantime, the agency is intent on avoiding a repeat of the last two seasons. The agency responded to two major outbreaks traced to fresh cantaloupes in 2011 and 2012.

Subsequent investigations revealed “multiple findings of insanitary production, handling conditions, and practices in packinghouses,” Landa wrote.

In addition to the inspections, FDA will also target cantaloupes coming into the United States from across the border, according to the letter, sent to to firms that grow, harvest, sort, pack, process or ship the melon.

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