By ALEXIS ZOTOS
6 News Reporter
KNOXVILLE (WATE) – 6 News visited grocery stores across Knox County Tuesday to find out where they get their cantaloupes. An outbreak of salmonella linked to cantaloupes is causing concerns across the country.
Nearly 150 people have been sickened from eating eating cantaloupes grown at a Southwest Indiana farm.
According to the Tennessee Department of Health, at least six Tennesseans have gotten sick from contaminated cantaloupe, but none of them appear to be from Knoxville.
Two people in Kentucky have died.
From Food City to Kroger to Publix, 6 News visited seven grocery stores, but none of them sold cantaloupes from the affected farms.
However, customers say they're still cautious.
"You get very hesitant about buying things because, are they sure?" asked shopper Teresa Bensey. She adds that she'd rather hold off on buying any cantaloupe for now.
Food City stores sell cantaloupe from farmers in Tennessee and Kentucky. They went as far as putting signs up warning customers about the recall.
Other stores simply have stickers on their produce identifying where it comes from.
Kroger's cantaloupe comes from California and Arizona. So does the cantaloupe at the new Trader Joe's in West Knoxville.
Publix gets its cantaloupe from California and so does Ingles.
But Earthfare gets some of its cantaloupes from Indiana, Michigan and California. A spokesperson said the USDA has checked their farms in Indiana and says they haven't been affected.
At Super Target, their cantaloupes are identified as Colorado grown.
Customers we spoke with say the labels help when they're picking out produce. "I do watch," said Dave May, "I'm very careful about it."
Wendy Domann says the labels only take you so far, and as a consumer it's important to pay attention to what you're buying.
"It kind of makes you vigilant about what you're buying in the store, makes you aware that you need to research and pay attention," she said.
If your store doesn't identify where its cantaloupe is from, just ask. A produce manager should be able to answer that for you.
But the officials from the health department say no matter where the cantaloupe is from, you should scrub it with a produce brush and then wipe it off with a clean towel to ensure no bacteria gets into your raw fruit.
Some stores have stickers on their produce identifying where it comes from.
