One of the best parts of summer is all the great tasting fruit that is available. You wouldn’t think that eating cantaloupe as part of a healthy diet could make you sick, but as recent news has shown, there has been a recent outbreak of Listeria poisoning linked to cantaloupes grown in Colorado.
A Denver personal injury attorney can handle many different types of cases representing people who have been injured due to the negligent actions of another party. While people more commonly think that a personal injury attorney in Colorado usually handles cases involving car accidents, work injuries or slips and falls, you can be gravely injured and made very sick by food borne pathogens. If you have become ill due to eating a tainted cantaloupe, you seek speak with a lawyer to make sure that your rights are properly protected.
Listeria causes listeriosis, which, according to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), is a serious infection which is typically caused by ingesting food that has been contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. The people most at risk are older adults, pregnant women, newborns, and adults with weakened immune systems. The CDC recommends doing the following to reduce the risk of listeria exposure:
- Thoroughly cook meats
- Rinse raw vegetables thoroughly under running water
- Separate uncooked meats from vegetables and cooked foods
- Don’t drink raw or unpasteurized milk, or any foods containing unpasteurized milk
- Wash hands and clean knives, countertops, and cutting boards after using them for preparing uncooked foods
- Eat perishable and ready-to-eat foods as soon as possible
For those who are at higher risk, not eating hot dogs, luncheon meats, cold cuts, etc. (unless heated to an internal temperature of 165°F), keeping fluids from hot dogs and lunch meats from getting onto other foods, utensils, and food preparation surfaces (and washing hands after handling such items), not eating refrigerated pâté or meat spreads or soft cheeses (feta, queso blanco, queso fresco, brie, etc.) unless is labeled as made with pasteurized milk, and avoiding refrigerated smoked seafood are all recommended.
Listeriosis symptoms include fever, chills and muscle aches or stiff neck. A blood or spinal fluid test will show if you have listeriosis. If you believe you have been exposed to listeria, you should seek medical treatment. At present, there is an outbreak has been traced to eating whole cantaloupe grown at Jensen Farms in Granada, Colorado. Jensen Farms has issued a voluntary recall of their cantaloupes. If you have a cantaloupe grown at that farm, throw it out.
The bacterium that causes listeriosis is found in soil and water, and can be carried by animals. Listeria gets into food by a number of routes, but in the case of produce, if the feces of an animal carry the bacteria gets into the water used to irrigate the plants, listeria can then be found in the vegetables of fruits.
If medical tests confirm that you have listeriosis, you should consider talking to a personal injury attorney. In Colorado, legal action has already been taken by some who were made so ill that they required hospitalization. There have even been deaths associated with this outbreak.
Most people recover from listeriosis and regain their health, but there are lost wages and pain and suffering issues to be considered which might warrant a legal consultation. If you live in Denver, personal injury attorneys can help you to assess whether or not your illness was caused by the negligent actions of another.
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