Colorado Farmers Arrested For Part In 2011 Listeria Outbreak
Two Colorado farmers were arrested on charges stemming from a 2011 listeria outbreak that killed 33 people. The incident was one of the United States’ worst outbreaks of a food-borne illness.
The brothers are the owners of a cantaloupe farm and were arrested on Tuesday on six charges of introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce.
Lawyers for Eric and Ryan Jensen haven’t commented about their arrest, notes The New York Times. Prosecutors explained that the misdemeanor charges come after the Food and Drug Administration, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, discovered the Jensens didn’t clean the cantaloupe properly.
The cantaloupes were likely contaminated when they entered the Jensen Farms packing house, which had dirty water on a floor and old, hard to clean equipment. The two Colorado farmers filed for bankruptcy after the outbreak.
USA Today notes that the brothers appeared in court on Thursday and were released on a $100,000 secured bond afterward.
The brothers’ farm is considered the source of the national listeria outbreak. Along with 33 deaths, the outbreak sickened 147 people in the worst outbreak of a food-borne illness in 25 years. Lawyer Bill Marler of Seattle represents 46 families in several civil lawsuits stemming from the outbreak.
Marler stated on Wednesday that he was pleased with the US Attorney’s Office for recognizing “that some form of criminal sanctions were appropriate against Jensen Farms.” Marler added on Thursday that criminal charges in a food poisoning case is rare. Only four other people have faced similar charges in the past 10 years.
The FDA discovered during its investigation that the two Colorado farmers purchased their processing equipment used just before the outbreak. The equipment was corroded and dirty. The group also noted that the floors of the packing facility were hard to clean, making it likely that bacteria grew in pools of water on the floor.
Another possible source of listeria contamination was a truck that hauled cantaloupe to a cattle operation. The truck was parked near the packing house.
The two farmers could each face up to six years in prison and up to $1.5 million in fines if they are convicted on all counts.
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