WASHINGTON, Ind. (AP) -- Southwestern Indiana's melon growers are facing new federal regulations following last year's salmonella outbreak that killed three people who ate Indiana-grown cantaloupes.
Workshops were recently held to educate melon farmers and their workers about the Food and Drug Administration's new expectations for protecting consumers from food-borne pathogens.
The FDA will be inspecting packing sheds and possibly field conditions as well as part of that effort.
Purdue Extension educator Scott Monroe tells the Washington Times-Herald (https://bit.ly/12lATKn ) the State Department of Health has hired two farm food safety consultants to assist in the farm produce education campaign.
A salmonella outbreak traced to a southwestern Indiana cantaloupe farm killed three Kentucky residents last year. That outbreak followed a 2011 Listeria outbreak that killed 33 people who ate Colorado-grown cantaloupes.