United States: Salmonella food poisoning which is likely to be the reason for sickening nearly 450 people across the USA this spring, which is getting a major concern among U.S. health experts. This is becoming a threat to humans, and it really could be dangerous, said the health officials recently on Tuesday.
By the reports given in U.S. News, that Grower doesn’t take the account for all the cucumber-related illnesses and 125 hospitalizations that were reported from the late March through early June, said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention.
Source of the Outbreak
So, this Salmonella was found in the untreated canal water used by Bedner Growers Inc. of Boynton Beach, Florida, and matched a strain of the bacteria that caused some of the illnesses reported in more than 30 states, including Washington, D.C. Additional types of salmonella were detected in soil and water samples collected at the site, said the FDA officials.
Grower supplied Fresh Start Produce Sales of Delray Beach in Florida, which recalled crates of the cucumbers in late May after the illnesses were reported. However, the FDA said that the Grower also sent some cucumbers to multiple places where the ill people reported buying or eating the produce.
The canal water was not applied to edible parts of the cucumber plants, but was used for subsoil watering, said Bedner Growers’ owner Steve Bedner. He added that it complies with federal rules and is “a common industry practice.”
Investigation and Safety Measures
Investigators originally said that there were two outbreaks of salmonella which are possibly tied to cucumbers but they mixed it just because there are so much similarities which also includes the time and the type of the food. Nearly70 percent of the sick people interviewed and reported eating cucumbers before they fell ill, the FDA said. The investigation is continuing.
Bedner Growers’ cucumber growing and harvesting season is over. There is no product from the farm remaining on the market, the FDA said, so there’s likely no ongoing risk to the public.