The Case of the Killer Cantaloupe

Cantaloupe String Bikini via AllAmericanBikini.Com

Via the Chicago Sun-Times:
Listeria outbreak in cantaloupes is deadliest in a decade By MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press September 28, 2011 6:12AM

WASHINGTON — Health officials say as many as 16 people have died from possible listeria illnesses traced to Colorado cantaloupes, the deadliest food outbreak in more than a decade.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that 72 illnesses, including 13 deaths, are linked to the tainted fruit. State and local officials say they are investigating three additional deaths that may be connected.

The death toll released by the CDC Tuesday — including newly confirmed deaths in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas — surpassed the number of deaths linked to an outbreak of salmonella in peanuts almost three years ago. Nine people died in that outbreak.

The CDC said Tuesday that they have confirmed two deaths in Texas and one death each in in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. Last week the CDC reported two deaths in Colorado, four deaths in New Mexico, one in Oklahoma and one in Maryland.

A tragic and timely story for some research on Would You Like Borders With That Socialism?  Note that the source of the contaminated fruit does not appear for ten paragraphs, which fits with a design to induce general panic, rather than helping anybody look for the problem.

Here in the US of A, we have had an expensive and intrusive food bureaucracy since the Wilson administration.  In fact, ranks of the food Nazi regime have been growing ever since, all in the name of "food safety."  The food safety legions are not held responsible for the spread of any disease that they are supposed to be protecting the nation from, they are only responsible for the random punishments.

They are also responsible for armed raids on food producers, like the little raw milk suppliers that are popping up all over the place since its partial 'decriminalization' in recent years.  My first attempts at finding any death statistics from raw milk and raw milk product consumption, as well as other deaths from foodborne pathogens, is going a bit slower than one would imagine if this is such a serious problem.

From the cantaloupe article above:

The outbreak has been traced to Jensen Farms in Holly, Colorado, which recalled the tainted cantaloupes earlier this month. The Food and Drug Administration said state health officials had found listeria in cantaloupes taken from grocery stores in the state and from a victim’s home that were grown at Jensen Farms. Matching strains of the disease were found on equipment and cantaloupe samples at Jensen Farms’ packing facility in Granada, Colorado.

The article is not very clear that this was a voluntary recall.  There is no mention of any government pressure, no phone calls from Washington, DC saying, "You know, that is a pretty farm there, would be a shame if anything happened to it."  No, the farm recalled its 300,000 melon harvest all on its own as soon as it discovered the problem.  The sort of thing the Socialist Statist establishment would have you believe never happens until the government makes it happen.

Sadly, this will never be the face of the modern food Nazi.

Funny thing is, the Leftist/Socialists keep saying that business never does this, yet they have little evidence to prove it is true.  Of course, they have no evidence that any farmer ever got away with intentionally killing people for profit.

UPDATE: The food Nazis have an exhibit in the National Archives - What's Cooking Uncle Sam?

We demand that our Government ensure that it is safe, cheap, and abundant. In response, Government has been a factor in the production, regulation, research, innovation, and economics of our food supply. It has also attempted, with varying success, to change the eating habits of Americans.

Interesting. I think I found a great wealth of misinformation/disinformation for my book.