Ind. health officials: Toss cantaloupes

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LAFAYETTE, Ind., Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Indiana health officials are advising consumers to throw out any cantaloupes purchased after July 7 out of concern for a possible salmonella outbreak.

The recommendation comes after two people died and 50 others became ill in Kentucky from salmonella discovered on cantaloupes grown in Indiana, the Lafayette (Ind.) Journal and Courier reported Friday. About 150 people across the country have been sickened by salmonella on cantaloupes, said Dr. Gregory Larkin, Indiana's state health commissioner.

"Because the investigation is ongoing and we do not have a definitive source for this outbreak, we are advising all Hoosiers to throw away any cantaloupes they've recently purchased as a precaution," Larkin said.

The recommendation comes days after officials at Burch Equipment of North Carolina recalled all of this growing season's cantaloupes and honeydew melons for possible Listeria.

The Monday recall involved about 189,000 cantaloupes and melons in 10 states.

A Listeria outbreak in cantaloupes grown in Colorado in the fall of 2011 killed at least 34 people.