(UPDATED COVERAGE, noon) DFI Marketing Inc., Fresno, Calif., is voluntarily recalling 28,000 bulk cartons of cantaloupe after routine, random government testing returned a positive result for salmonella.
No illnesses have been reported or linked to the cantaloupes, according to the company’s recall notice, posted on the website businesswire.com at 11:30 p.m. eastern time on Sept. 12.
DFI is a family-owned grower-shipper operation, according to Maggie Bezart, company spokeswoman. She said DFI grew the cantaloupes at its fields in Huron, Calif.
Courtesy FDAAll of the cantaloupe recalled by DFI Marketing Inc., Fresno, Calif., were packed in cartons like this. No illnesses have been linked to the cantaloupe.DFI packed the cantaloupes Aug. 26, according to the notice, and they may have been distributed from Aug. 27 to Sept. 10. Distribution was primarily to retail customers in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Mexico.
Company officials said in the recall notice that they believe the majority of the recalled cantaloupe are no longer in the stream of commerce because of their perishable nature.
The cantaloupes are packed six, nine, 12, 15 or 18 per bulk carton. All cartons have the DFI brand with “826 California Westside” stamped in black ink.
DFI has a testing program as part of its food safety plan that includes routinely testing samples for foodborne pathogens prior to harvest by third-party laboratories, the recall notice states. The sampling of the cartons involved in this recall tested negative for salmonella.
The distributor initiated the recall after the U.S. Department of Agriculture notified DFI officials that a single cantaloupe from a wholesale distribution center tested positive for salmonella.
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