Sunday, March 23, 2008

Don't forget to check your Melons!

From USA Today --
People should throw away cantaloupes from a Honduran manufacturer believed to be linked to a salmonella outbreak, the government said Saturday.

The Food and Drug Administration issued the alert for the melons from Agropecuaria Montelibano. Grocers are advised to remove from their stock any cantaloupes from this company. People should check with stores to see if recently purchased cantaloupes came from Honduras.

So far, 50 people have become sickened in 16 states and nine have become ill in Canada after eating the cantaloupes.

The government also is seeking to detain all cantaloupes shipped to the United States by Agropecuaria Montelibano. More...

3 comments:

  1. King --

    The story says a "Honduran manufacturer" But is there really such a thing as a cantaloupe factory? I thought cantaloupes were plucked from vines that are grown on farms. I think USA Today missed the bigger story here -- that Honduras now has factories that can manufacture musk melons. What else is down there -- tomato and potato factories, corn factories, turnip factories, oat and barley factories. Why the hell are people leaving and immigrating North? Seems like the vegetable and melon factories would have plenty of work available.

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  2. Hi Bill -

    The Honduran melon manufacturer went right over my head. Nice catch.

    Canteloupes are picked from vines. I used a whole bunch of space in my garden to grow them this past summer. The day I picked them some place had them on sale for 69 cents a piece. It would have been much easier to buy one.

    Anyway, you bring up a good point - if they don't have all those type of factories - maybe they should. Would be a good source of employment for them. Maybe the illegals coming here would go there instead. Then everyone that is out of work here can go to the fields and pick fruits & vegatables (also their nose if they want).

    If the unemployed here feel the work is menial and below them, thats too damn bad. Having A job is better than having NO job.

    The only draw back would be that a bunch of people in this country would then scream it is unfoar these people are only making minimum wage so they will want to raise it. Then of course, as they have tried to redefine "benefits" at the work place and anointed them as rights. Through activist judges they will mandate the farm owner give longer paid sick time, force them to give or offer medical benefits, among many other industry killing initiatives.

    To stay viable with these over reaching government intrusions the farm owners will be forced to reduce his American work force and will buy farms in countries where labor is cheaper in order to meet the overhead of the US farm and forced benefit package.

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  3. That is a very good point, Bill. Ha.

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Don't be scared!