Scientists join growers in cantaloupe food safety research in Indiana

Researchers at Purdue University are working with the FDA and Indiana officials on a study to help increase the safety of cantaloupe.

Specifically, the scientists are looking at salmonella prevalence and persistence in the cantaloupe-growing region of southwest Indiana. Growers in the area are assisting with the statewide study to extend their decades-long focus on food safety.

Pathogen contamination of cantaloupe in Indiana has led to several recalls and outbreaks in recent years. The study includes a farm in central Indiana, four Purdue-operated farms in northwest Indiana’s Tippecanoe County, and the Southwest Purdue Ag Center near Vincennes.

Researchers are sampling air, soil, water, and animal scat while also collecting weather data to better understand what environmental conditions may encourage the survival, growth, and spread of pathogens. They are also considering the possible role of bee pollination in the process.

“The growers want to participate in this study because of their commitment to do everything they can to keep their produce as safe as possible,” said Amanda Deering, associate professor of fresh food produce safety. Deering leads Purdue’s part in the study with Scott Monroe, Purdue Extension food safety educator at the Purdue Extension Food Safety Training Hub near Vincennes.

The study is being initiated following outbreaks linked to cantaloupe grown in Southwest Indiana where a specific source or route of contamination was not found, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Other varieties of Salmonella were identified, some of which were genetically similar to clinical, environmental, and food isolates collected concerning the region over the past decade. These findings suggest that Salmonella is a reoccurring issue in the region and that multiple reservoirs for Salmonella spp. may exist. 

“The outbreak investigations have shown that there are complex environmental survival, proliferation, and dispersal mechanisms of pathogens in this region that need to be better understood,” according to the FDA.

In recent years, similar studies have been conducted following outbreaks linked to produce in Arizona, California, and Florida, and earlier outbreaks traced to the Delmarva Peninsula of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.

Indiana’s cantaloupe production ranked sixth in the United States as of 2018, according to the most recently available data collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That year, Indiana growers planted 1,800 acres of cantaloupe worth $8.6 million.

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