Advice to Consumers and Retailers

CDC recommends that consumers, restaurants, and retailers always choose and handle fruits safely to help prevent foodborne illness.

• Throw away fruits and vegetables that are spoiled or have been recalled.
• Wash and sanitize countertops as well as drawers or shelves in refrigerators where recalled items were stored.
• If buying precut and packaged fruits or vegetables, choose ones that are refrigerated or kept on ice and keep them refrigerated at home.
• Wash your hands, kitchen utensils, and food preparation surfaces, including chopping boards and countertops, before and after preparing fruits and vegetables.
• Keep fruits and vegetables separate from other foods that could contaminate them, such as raw meat and seafood.
• Refrigerate fruits and vegetables that you have cut up, peeled, or cooked as soon as possible, or within 2 hours. Refrigerate within 1 hour if the temperature outside is above 90°F. Chill them at 40°F or below in a clean container.

Contact a healthcare provider if you have:

• High fever (temperature over 101.5°F)
• Diarrhea for more than 3 days that is not improving
• Bloody stools
• Prolonged vomiting that prevents you from keeping liquids down
• Signs of dehydration, such as:
  • Making very little urine
  • Dry mouth and throat
  • Dizziness when standing up

Retailers and restaurants should always choose and handle fruits safely to help prevent foodborne illness.

• Restaurants and retailers should not serve or sell recalled pre-cut melon.
• Wash and sanitize any crates or other containers where recalled pre-cut melon were held or sold. Use a solution of chlorine bleach and hot water or another appropriate sanitizer, following the instructions provided on the label.
• Wash your hands, kitchen utensils, and food preparation surfaces, including chopping boards and countertops, before and after preparing fruits and vegetables.
• Keep precut fruits and vegetables refrigerated at 40°F or colder or on ice.