Lets start what we do not know as consumers.  We do not know the name of the farm (its somewhere in southern Indiana), nor where the tainted cantaloupe was sold (well, except Walmart).  How helpful is that when you are shopping, or deciding what to feed your family for dinner?

Also, if you were a cantaloupe grower other than this one mentioned by the CDC (not by name), how pissed would you be – especially if you were in southern Indiana:

As a result of the initial investigations by the state health departments in Indiana and Kentucky (Salmonella positive samples of cantaloupe), a farm in southwestern Indiana has contacted its distributors, which reach outside Indiana into other states, and is withdrawing its cantaloupe from the market place. The farm has agreed to cease distributing cantaloupes for the rest of the growing season.

What we do know is that on August 17th the CDC and a variety of states announced that a total of 141 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium have been reported from 20 states linked to cantaloupe consumption.  31 ill persons have been hospitalized. Two deaths have been reported in Kentucky.

The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (7), Arkansas (3), California (2), Georgia (1), Illinois (17), Indiana (13), Iowa (7), Kentucky (50), Michigan (6), Minnesota (3), Missouri (9), Mississippi (2), New Jersey (1), North Carolina (3), Ohio (3), Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina (3), Tennessee (6), Texas (1), and Wisconsin (2).

So, no recall?  Really?  How pissed will people be that get sick after August 17th?  This all seems an odd way to run public health.  I just guess we take the advise:

“When in doubt, throw it out.”