The Colorado cantaloupe grower-shipper linked to the deadly 2011 listeria outbreak has been fined for housing migrant workers in substandard conditions.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division fined Granada, Colo.-based Jensen Farms $4,250 for failing to meet safety and health requirements under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, according to an agency news release.
Investigators from the agency’s Denver office found overcrowded rooms without beds, windows that didn’t open, inadequate laundry facilities, unsanitary conditions and a lack of smoke detectors, all in violation of the act.
In 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration determined that unsanitary conditions at Jensen Farms’ packing facility were likely contributors to the listeria outbreak, which killed 30 and sickened 146 people in 28 states.
Jensen Farms co-owner Eric Jensen could not be reached for comment Jan. 20.
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