Eric Jensen Of Listeria-Tainted Cantaloupe Farms Is Fined For Provide Inadequate Migrant Worker Housing

DENVER — A Colorado cantaloupe grower whose farm was identified by federal authorities as the source of a listeria outbreak that killed 30 people last year was fined by the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday for failing to provide safe migrant worker housing.

The federal agency said Eric Jensen, owner of Jensen Farms, of Holly, rented migrant workers unsanitary, overcrowded rooms at a motel he owns. Inspectors said many rooms lacked beds, laundry facilities and smoke detectors. Jensen faces $4,250 in civil penalties.

The fine was not linked to the outbreak.

"Profiting at the expense of vulnerable workers is not just inhumane, it's illegal," said Chad Frasier, the Wage and Hour Division's district director in Denver.

Jensen said Thursday the fine was unwarranted. He said he didn't know the people who rented the rooms for a month were migrant workers.

"It was closed at the time, and they wanted to rent it," Jensen said. He added that he didn't know he had to verify their employment status.

The epidemic of listeria in cantaloupe last fall was the deadliest outbreak of foodborne illness in 25 years. Thirty people died, 146 people were sickened and one woman suffered a miscarriage after eating the tainted cantaloupe, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Food and Drug Administration said in October that pools of dirty water on a packing facility floor and old, hard-to-clean equipment probably were to blame. Government investigators found several positive samples of listeria bacteria on equipment in the packing facility and on fruit that had been held there. The farm also had stopped using antibacterial washes and did not "pre-cool" cantaloupes off the fields to reduce bacteria growth, the FDA said.

Jensen Farms recalled the cantaloupes in September.

Jensen faces multiple lawsuits related to the outbreak. He has refused to answer questions about the suits.

Comments

[satanlite]

04:34 PM on 01/23/2012

I'd like to know what the sanitary conditions in the fields look like. Typically there are no rest rooms available for workers who have to relieve themselves in the field.

[karela]

11:53 AM on 01/23/2012

A $4,000 fine is a joke. Big agribusiness is not going to change it's ways if the fine, after several years of violating, is far less than the cost of compliance.

[salsmom]

02:25 PM on 01/20/2012

Private industry - american capitalism - yes, we can ALWAYS trust these people to do the right thing - isn't that the mantra of Romney, Gingrich, Santorum, Paul, et.al.?

[kareemachan]

01:51 PM on 01/20/2012

'Jensen said Thursday the fine was unwarranted. He said he didn't know the people who rented the rooms for a month were migrant workers.'

Really? How disingenuous. Be that as it may, the fact that the rooms were substandard and not up to code is still there, and as they are HIS rooms, he's responsible.

[Halsey]

08:28 AM on 01/20/2012

When the listeria story FIRST broke, and Jensen spoke, I almost felt sorry for him; picturing him as a smallish grower just trying to put cantaloupe in stores. Man was I wrong. He is a heartless man as evidenced not only by the dirty conditions at his shipping facility but:.."at a motel he owns. Inspectors said many rooms lacked beds, laundry facilities and smoke detectors. Jensen faces $4,250 in civil penalties..." He OWNS the motel that is in such dismal condition and rents rooms by the month but "didn't" know they renters were migrant. Um..who ELSE would rent a sh*thole..tourists?..for a MONTH? The fine $4250 is zero..zip..why not be cruel if that's the fine..cheaper to pay it than improve conditions. This IS what most businesses do Ron Paul..left to themselves..use dirty machinery and take advantage of poor, hard workers. Sadly, we DO need stiffer regulation simply because biz owners rarely do the right thing. If they were kind and humane we would not need gov't regs..but they aren't.. lose/lose.

[kareemachan]

01:51 PM on 01/20/2012

Well, the good thing is that he's facing a lot of lawsuits - and rightly so.

[Karissa36]

03:10 AM on 01/20/2012

All melons should be scrubbed with a brush and soap and hot water before you cut them. The knife carries germs and bacteria into the melon as you cut. The wet sweet melon is an excellent culture to grow bacteria and viruses.

[pepper1311]

05:16 AM on 01/20/2012

Listeria is in the flesh of the mellons, washing does not help. You eat one your rolling the dice. This can happen anywhere, large farms and small, even in your back yard.

[Viper1st]

06:40 AM on 01/20/2012

cite source

[karela]

11:56 AM on 01/23/2012

If that were the case, then the pools of dirty water on the floor of the plant and the unsanitary machinery would not have an effect. If growing in the ground was a danger, then we wouldn't be able to eat. . . . . . at all.

[Richcrafter]

12:11 AM on 01/20/2012

So a country exports it's poor. We work them like slaves but treat them worse and more indecently than household pets; then when 30 people die, we are upset. Logical? I thought slavery ended? The owner ought to try his cantaloupe and stay in his own inhumane filth. And pay for healthcare and education for the humans he trafficked for profit.

[pepper1311]

05:17 AM on 01/20/2012

You want to pick mellons all day? How bout beans, bent over ten hours a dy seven days a week. Didn't think so, to good for that.

[Allen Bouchard]

09:18 AM on 01/20/2012

I read Richcrafter's comment as a complaint of the working conditions for the migrants rather than the practice of hiring migrants.

Of course he'll have to clarify.

[Daveatthedoor]

08:59 PM on 01/19/2012

Reality check/Reality bites..this is how food is produced in these United States...while everyone is shopping for bargains to save pennies this kind of stuff is standard operating procedure...modern day slavery just for coupon clippers to feel good about themselves...

[merbean]

10:55 PM on 01/19/2012

You got that right.

[glitterik]

07:53 PM on 01/19/2012

Aw, quit picking on the poor cantaloupe farmer! He's just following the example of the corporate one percenters. If they can exploit their workers, why the heck can't a farmer?

[Susan Shaffer]

07:25 PM on 01/19/2012

does this guy Jensen honestly think people are going to believe him? He owns the farm and he owns the hotel and the workers were living in his hotel and he is trying to say he didn't know they were farm workers.

[Daveatthedoor]

09:02 PM on 01/19/2012

shop local..l be vocal..dont pay the least for produce..fair trade for melons..ask any vegetable..

[MrsMansfield]

01:50 AM on 01/20/2012

Agreed, especially considering how much work goes into a crop. Know what you're putting in your body.

[Susan Shaffer]

03:57 PM on 01/20/2012

better still grow it in your own backyard.

we moved into a house on a lot of land. We intend to extend the house but there will still be plenty of land to grow fruit and vegetables. instead of a grass strip down the side of the driveway against the fence we are growing parsley for tabouli salad.

we have a tress put up against one wall and are growing green beans, tomato zucchini. in another area I have a pumpkin patch. beside the house in another area is our herb garden.

[Nukualofa]

06:18 PM on 01/19/2012

The market place will sort it out. Right Ron Paul?

[Daveatthedoor]

09:05 PM on 01/19/2012

The vegetable market will grovel in the street on Saturday morning,anything for a buck..

[mjeffn]

06:13 PM on 01/19/2012

I'm not surprised this happened in Colorado. Not surprised at all.

[Daveatthedoor]

09:03 PM on 01/19/2012

Can you imagine if they freaked out in Kansas?

[freedom1947]

04:46 PM on 01/19/2012

When you vacation in America, Don't eat the cantalope. And if the pipeline goes through, don't drink the water.