I Knew It…Cantaloupe Will Kill You

I hate cantaloupes–any kind of melon, really (that means you too, honeydew).  Their smell is repulsive and the taste is even worse and now I’m vindicated in my abhorrence of them.  Cantaloupes, in all their vile nastiness, are killing people–16 to be exact.

OK, before I irresponsibly inspire widespread panic, let me clarify: It’s not healthy cantaloupes that are killing people, it’s the ones tainted with listeria that are doing the deadly damage.  As defined by Merriam-Webster, listeria is a “type of bacterium that infects humans and other warm-blooded animals through contaminated food.”  The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) have confirmed 16 deaths in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas and 72 illnesses related to the outbreak–the deadliest in the US in a decade (the peanut salmonella outbreak nearly 3 years ago killed 9 people).

According to a Huffington Post report, listeria generally only sickens the elderly, pregnant women and others with compromised immune systems.  The CDC said the median age of those sickened is 78 and that one in five who contract the disease can die.

To read the full story on the Huffington Post, click here.

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