Cantaloupe Crisis Coverage

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Cantaloupe prices down 33.6 percent since outbreak

Today I met with Jeni Exley, daughter of listeria victim Herbert Stevens, for an interview in Englewood. Before meeting with her, I stopped at a King Soopers in the area to purchase a cantaloupe (don't worry...I didn't eat it, though it would probably be safer to eat one now). Her father ate a contaminated cantaloupe that her mother bought at a Littleton King Soopers in August so I figured I would also check out the prices of cantaloupes now compared to the start of the breakout.


Jeni's family have hired Bill Marler, a attorney based in Seattle who specializes in food safety to file suit against Jensen Farms. Marler has a website for food safety news where I was able to find a story on cantaloupe prices now compared to the beginning of the outbreak. According to the USDA, prices are down 33.6 percent since the outbreak caught media attention. Prices typically drop anyways once demand goes down after summer, but obviously they have dropped much more because of the outbreak. Colorado only produces 2 percent of the nation's cantaloupes but clearly has been a major factor in the price decrease. 

You can read the story here.
posted by Mackenzie at 5:37 PM

3 Comments:

I asked my mom to check out what cantaloupe prices were per pound back in Massachusetts where I am from at a comparable grocery store to King Soopers. $3.61 per pound! Crazy.

November 30, 2011 at 2:55 PM  

Wow! That is ridiculous.

November 30, 2011 at 4:59 PM  

whoops I think my mom made a mistake! I thought that was a little high, but she said they are 77 cents at a Stop & Shop in Massachusetts. Still higher...considerably higher..

December 1, 2011 at 12:09 PM  

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