Jensen Farms Cantaloupes – Retail Distribution Information

Updated 11/17/2011

As usual, FDA has not issued a retail distribution list for this recall, leaving it up to Jensen Farms and its customers (food service distributors and retailers) to make that information public.

Here’s what the public has been told so far.

Jensen Farms, Inc. cantaloupes were supplied to the following grocery chains and foodservice distributors:

Aldi:- Aldi stores are located in 31 states, primarily from Kansas to the East Coast.
Basila Produce:- A “macro-distributor” of Jensen’s cantaloupes based in Albuquerque, NM
Carol’s Cuts LLC:- A Kansas food processor, who supplied Carol’s Cuts Fruit Medley products to institutional food customers, including restaurants, in Overland Park, Kansas, Kansas City and Maryland Heights, Missouri and Omaha, Nebraska. The product was shipped to customers on August 26 and September 12, 2011.
Hard-E Foods Inc. (St. Louis, MO):- Recalled approximately 65 five-pound tubs of Cantaloupe Chunks (Use by dates: SEP.10.11 245, SEP.12.11 247, SEP.14.11 249, and SEP .15.11 250). Customers were notified by telephone and email. Distribution was limited to Missouri.
King Soopers:- Sweet Rocky Ford Cantaloupe – Jensen Farms; Various sizes. King Soopers has stores in Colorado and Wyoming.
Safeway:- Jumbo Rocky Ford Cantaloupe from Jensen Farms; sold in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico (Aztec and Farmington), South Dakota and Wyoming between August 30 and September 6.
Select Express LLC (Idaho):- Jensen Farms cantaloupes were shipped to Select Express (a food distribution company). Because the melons were too ripe to be sold, they were donated between August 28th and September 2nd.
Schnucks Market Inc:- Received two shipments of Jensen Farms cantaloupes in August 2011.
U.S. Foodservice:- “A trace‐back from secondary suppliers and processors found a few cases of whole and some “cut” product affected in two USF Distribution Centers in the West. A small number of customers affected have been contacted.”
Wal-Mart:- North Dakota, Colorado* and New Mexico. Although Walmart has not posted the recall notice on its website (as of September 18th), a Colorado couple has filed suit against Jensen Farms Inc. and Wal-Mart, alleging that they purchased a “…tainted cantaloupe at a Wal-Mart store on Razorback Road in Colorado Springs.” The cantaloupes may also have been sold in Walmart stores in other states.
Wegmans Buffalo (NY) area stores only:- Packaged Cantaloupe Chunks, Cantaloupe Slices, Gourmet Fruit Salad, Small Fruit Salad, Small and Large Fruit Salad with Pineapple, and Fruit Salad with Kiwi Fruit Trays (Best if used by September 4 to September 11), sold in the produce departments of Buffalo-area stores between August 31 and September 11. The packages were supplied to Wegmans by Fruit Fresh Up, of Depew, NY.
Whole Foods Market:- In some New Mexico and Colorado locations. Notwithstanding these linked reports, Whole Foods believes that it was NOT supplied with Jensen Farms, Inc. cantaloupes.

*Based on information supplied by Bill Marler

The following grocery chains and foodservice distributors did NOT procure cantaloupes from Jensen:

A&P
Albertsons (per Dan Sutton, VP Produce, Albertsons LLC)
Big Y
BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc.
Buehler’s Fresh Foods
Harris Teeter
Ingles Markets
Price Chopper
Publix
ShopRite Supermarkets
Stop & Shop (info courtesy of eFoodAlert reader)
Top Food and Drug
VG’s Grocery/Spartan Stores
Wegmans (except as noted above)

Information from other government agencies:

West Virginia Department of Agriculture: West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Gus R. Douglass is warning consumers that a recall on cantaloupes includes products shipped to nearby states Pennsylvania and Tennessee, and that shoppers should make sure that any cantaloupes purchased in those states are not part of the recall. One outbreak case of Listeria monocytogeneshas been confirmed in West Virginia.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency: No cantaloupes implicated in the U.S. recall have been shipped to Canada. Canadians who are considering purchasing cantaloupe when travelling in the U.S. are urged to monitor the recall on the United States Food and Drug Administration’s website.
Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority: No cantaloupes implicated in the U.S. recall were shipped to the United Arab Emirates.

Finally, this is a list of 25 states which were supplied directly with cantaloupes by Jensen Farms: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

FDA has determined that cantaloupes were not shipped directly to California, North Carolina, Ohio or Virginia. Nevertheless, some redistribution of cantaloupes into these and other states may have occurred. None of the recalled cantaloupes were exported.

I’ll continue to update these lists as more information becomes available.