As the listeria outbreak linked to cantaloupe makes it way to Louisiana, Nicholls’ Sodexo manager said campus diners should not worry about the quality of their food.

Richard Curtis, general manager of Sodexo and adjunct instructor of sanitation and food safety in the John Folse Culinary Institute, said Sodexo has rigid food safety protocols.

Food safety laws require routine checks of food products, but Curtis explained that Sodexo requires more than the usual amount of inspections. He said Sodexo inspects about once a year, and health inspectors audit Nicholls’ Sodexo units about every 90 days. He said that the food Nicholls receives is high-grade quality.

Curtis explained that though this listeria outbreak is receiving a lot of attention, outbreaks happen often.

“My company (Sodexo) informs me of all recalls,” Curtis said. “There are numerous recalls all the time­—most you don’t even hear about—some voluntary, some not, some about food safety, others about quality and all sorts of things.”

The recent listeria outbreak is possibly the cause of the death of a woman in East Baton Rouge Parish, who was diagnosed with listeria two or three weeks after she ate tainted cantaloupe. This is the first known infection and death of a Louisiana resident caused by listeria during this outbreak.

Louisiana state epidemiologist Raoult Ratard reported that the cantaloupe eaten by the woman, though its exact origin is not confirmed, possibly came from Jensen Farms in Colorado, which has been linked to other deaths caused by the bacterium listeria found in the fruit.

Curtis said he is not worried because Sodexo keeps a strict watch on where its food comes from.

“We’re only allowed to purchase from certain companies,” Curtis said. “We can’t just buy from anywhere, and we keep track of everything that comes in.”

Curtis said that Sodexo keeps watch on food safety and implements strict guidelines on separate food preparation stations and storage. Curtis explained that, in particular, he uses a peroxide-based produce wash in every company he works for, though it is not a Sodexo standard.

“It’s standard in Europe,” Curtis said, “but it’s not standard in the United States yet. It probably will in the future, and I make sure to tell all my classes about it.”

The listeria bacterium that has been found in cantaloupes from Jensen Farms and linked to over 100 infected persons and 18 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on www.cdc.gov, is Listeria monocytogenes, which causes the disease listeriosis, an infection that attacks weak immune systems.

The symptoms of listeriosis can take up to two months to show up and include fever, muscle aches and gastrointestinal symptoms, according to the CDC, which is why infected persons are showing symptoms weeks or months after eating infected cantaloupes.

The disease attacks the immune system and its affect depends on the host. Pregnant women, elderly persons, children and people with existing illnesses are at higher risk for infection and death, according to the CDC.

“I know listeriosis can cause miscarriages,” Curtis said.

In this case of listeria outbreak, Curtis explained that it is abnormal for produce to be infected.

“I found it odd that produce was affected at all,” Curtis said. “It normally affects processed meats, cheese and things like that. For it to show up in produce is strange.”

The last produce-related outbreaks were reported in 2009 (sprouts) and 2010 (celery), according to the CDC.

Curtis explained that he believes the listeria grew in the cantaloupes during the handling process, as produce tends to travel through several companies before it reaches its final destination.

The bacterium was also found in two-pound bags of chopped romaine lettuce with a use-by date of Sept. 29 from True Leaf Farms of California, according to the Alaska Division of Environmental Health. The product was voluntarily recalled when the bacterium was found during a routine check. No cases of illness were reported.

“What’s bad is that Sodexo mandates we use pre-cut lettuce to prevent this type of thing,” Curtis said, “but none of our food comes from infected areas.”

The CDC announced the listeria outbreak linked to cantaloupes on Sept. 12 and explained “about 800 cases of listeria infection are diagnosed each year in the United States, along with three or four outbreaks of listeria-associated foodborne illness.”

The investigation of the original outbreak is ongoing by collaborative forces of local, state and federal public health and regulatory agencies, according to the CDC.

The source of the listeria outbreak was discovered because 92 percent of 77 persons who had available information on their eating habits reported consuming cantaloupes, according to the CDC. Several people even remembered which type of cantaloupe was eaten, and the distribution of the fruit was traced back to Jensen Farms.

The CDC recommends that consumers not eat cantaloupe from Jensen Farms, even if some of the cantaloupe has been eaten without the consumer becoming ill, because listeria can grow in room temperatures and during refrigeration.

To prevent the growth of listeria in produce, the CDC recommends consumers rinse all produce thoroughly, scrub firm produce (such as cantaloupes) with a produce brush and dry produce with a clean cloth or paper towel. It also recommends that uncooked meats and poultry be separated from vegetables and cooked foods.

The CDC explains on its Web site that this type of outbreak will be easier to control in the future because of the passing of the Food Safety Modernization Act on Jan. 4, 2011, which gives the U.S. Food and Drug Administration power to improve food-tracing methods.

This will reportedly make it easier to trace sources of bacteria outbreaks by focusing on each step of the food distribution chain, according to the CDC. Before, the FDA focused more on responding to contamination, but the new act turns the focus towards preventing it, according to www.fda.gov.

Curtis explained that it is too soon for the Food Safety Modernization Act to have much of an impact, which he said is probably why as many people that have been infected were and a few have died.

“It’ll probably take two or three years before the system is in place enough that it will catch this type of thing quicker,” Curtis said.