Little-used misdemeanor counts of introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce were brought against the owners of a southeastern Colorado cantaloupe farm linked to a deadly 2011 listeria outbreak. Jeff Dorschner, a spokesman for federal prosecutors, says the misdemeanor charges are the "best, most serious charge we could find." Dorschner said:
"It was the magnitude of the number of people who were hospitalized and the number of people who died."