ADFCA: Melons in UAE safe for consumption

The Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) has clarified that the Colorado cantaloupes (a variety of melon) to which the recent outbreak of Listeria illness in the US was traced is not imported to the UAE. In a statement issued to the press, Mohamed Jalal Al Reyaysa, director of Communication and Community Service at the ADFCA, said the authority was carefully following the development of the issue since it was first reported on July 31. “However, there is no need for any specific action on this because the contaminated product was distributed only internally in the US,” he pointed out. “The melons sold in the entire Abu Dhabi markets are safe for consumption. The contaminated melons are not being imported to the UAE,” Al Reyaysa confirmed. The Listeria has claimed many lives in the US. Health officials in the US had issued warnings after several cases of a strain of Listeria were reported in five states: Colorado, Texas, Indiana, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Listeriosis is a serious infection usually caused by eating food contaminated with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. The disease primarily affects older adults, pregnant women, newborns and adults with weak immune systems.