Jensen Brothers to Enter Guilty Pleas in Cantaloupe-Linked Listeria Outbreak

Eric and Ryan Jensen, who own the Colorado cantaloupe farm linked to a deadly 2011 Listeria outbreak have reportedly indicated to a federal court that they intend to plead guilty to the criminal misdemeanor charges brought against them. Additional information about the charges appears in Issue 498 of this Update. The six misdemeanor charges of adulteration of a food and aiding and abetting carry potential jail terms of one year and a fine per charge of $250,000. The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reportedly found that the brothers failed to adequately clean their cantaloupes after changing their produce-cleaning system and that their actions were responsible for the deaths of 33 consumers. See NBCNews.com, October 16, 2013.