Scandal: The 2011 Cantaloupe Listeriosis Outbreak | Short Documentary | Plainly Difficult

In 2011 a listeriosis outbreak resulted in a widespread outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes food poisoning spanning 28 US states that resulted from contaminated cantaloupes linked to Jensen Farms of Holly, Colorado.
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01:25 Beginning
05:30 Listeria
08:44 Investigation
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[@Captaindc1214]

I'm from louisiana. My sister was the woman who had the miscarriage.😢 Needless to say we were devastated. She refuses to eat cantaloupe to this day. True story not an april fool's joke.

[@Panda-cute]

I'm sorry for her loss, that's such a tragedy.

[@echidnaralsei1473]

😮

[@nojuanatall3281]

Wow. Sorry to hear that.

[@MsBaztastic]

I'm glad that you said something and didn't let her be just another number. I'm so sorry she didn't get the chance to raise her child who is no doubt in heaven with Jesus.

[@you_dumb_for_replying]

I can confirm I was there, I was the medic

[@kaymarie252]

Love that you called your other half "Mrs Plainly" and not "Mrs Difficult". Saved yourself there.

[@dh510]

Kudos to the brothers who f*cked up big time for immediately complying and issuing recalls and also to admitting guilt.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Credit where it’s due

[@mhoppy6639]

I haven’t read about this in detail but I think Plainly has been pretty kind here. Yes, they plead guilty. That’s good. But once again you’ve got the same basic reason behind industrial / commercial ‘mishaps’. Money. Plains old US dollars and more specifically, saving those dollars by cutting corners. And people died as a result of that corner cutting. I wonder whether the brothers were under specific pressure from buyers to keep their prices low. These causes go right up the chain and we see it here in the Uk with the various scabdals over chicken etc Ok this is no Bhopal but in the rush to try and get cheaper and cheaper food I know I should have a look at myself before I complain about things costing too much! Great video once again. These food related vids are great.

[@sdfxcvblank5756]

@@mhoppy6639 I think they're cut a bit more slack because it turned out the infection seems to have come from the wayward machinery they got the last year.

[@MyHandelsMessiah]

@@sdfxcvblank5756 machinery which they chose not to sanitize properly. They are in an industry where it is required knowledge that you must sanitize produce. They chose not to sanitize them correctly im order to save money. 33 people died. They should be behind bars.

[@vargasbryce]

Funny how the FARMERS have to pay. But coal oil and train corporations get no sentence and minimal fines. Makes me think of the people of aberfan(sp?) That got totally wrecked by the tailings landslide.

[@stevenlauzon7031]

I was a victim of the maple leaf listeria outbreak. Nearly died. Did bad things to my brain. Missed out on the lawsuit as there were no known cases in Alberta!

[@annnee6818]

Urgh, sorry to hear that

[@Steve.._.]

Go on Wikipedia and make 35 people made Ill to 36

[@JAMESWUERTELE]

Sorry this happened. I’ll have to look this up.

[@johanea]

Did you at least die a little bit?

[@stevenlauzon7031]

@@JAMESWUERTELE not many deaths if I remember correctly but that's hit and miss now... 🙄

[@alex_zetsu]

I'm surprised anyone remembers what they ate more than 7 days before the day they got sick. Not only were they able to remember they ate Cantaloupe, but they also remembered it was Rocky Ford Cantaloupe brand. I'm a bit surprised they were able to narrow it to a brand based on patient's memories alone.

[@b.y.2460]

Before this, Rocky Ford melons of all types were the premium brand. Rocky Ford is a town along the Arkansas river where the climate is just about perfect for growing melons. Restaurants would specify on the menu if they had Rocky Ford produce. One thing not mentioned in the video is that all of the fruit crops in Colorado were abandoned in the fields. That is what the pictures of brown, rotten cantaloupe fields are about. Today, most of the fields that used to be full of watermelons and honeydews and cantaloupes are now full of Milo, a form of sorghum, that is almost exclusively sold to feed lots that have sprung up in the area. For the legacy scale, I would put the rating much higher for the Arkansas river valley of Colorado as this outbreak completely changed the agricultural landscape.

[@dynogamergurl]

Ig being on the spectrum would probably help me and individuals like me since we tend to eat more or less the exact same things say in and out with not much variation 🙄

[@rrice1705]

Geeze, I barely remember what I had for lunch two days ago, let alone seven.

[@patt5085]

Hmm probably cantaloupe is not a staple diet. I still remember last time I ate blueberries cause it’s pricey in my area

[@Foxtrick]

i live in Colorado and it's about a two hour drive to Holly. mellons are big business out there and this illness rocked the community. my local store was kind enough to call and let me know that my cantaloupe had been recalled. the guy at the service desk exchanged it for a gift card but was annoyed about it. "i don't get it, i ate one and i'm fine." not knowing how that bacteria worked. but yeah, no mellons that year.

[@spvillano]

Mom taught me to always wash my produce before preparing it for a meal. The military also trains people to wash produce before preparing it for the mess hall.

[@stephanie8560]

I always wash any fruit with soap and water before I cut it up if I'm eating it raw, it might not remove everything, but generally it removes enough that you won't get sick. Of course, my father was a microbiologist for the FDA (working at the federal center in Colorado too)

[@crf80fdarkdays]

@@stephanie8560 lol at the soap part tho

[@spvillano]

@@crf80fdarkdays why laugh? Soap kills bacteria and can bring pesticides into solution on the wash water, getting it off of the produce.

[@nursejanainholland1978]

@@spvillano in the case of this 2011 outbreak, washing the cantaloupes before you cut them wasn't effective in removing the listeria from the skin of the melons.

[@NSJwaterclan456]

My dad contracted listeria meningitis in August 2012 after eating at a party where many other people got sick as well. All of them bouced back except my dad, who had a generally crap immune system and left him brain damaged and partially paralyzed. For the longest time it was a running joke that it was the cantaloupe in the fruit salad that did it, now I know why they said that! We never found out exactly what caused it, but I've never eaten cantaloupe since (also bc it sucks). My dad passed back in December after ten long years and I miss him dearly. Listeria, meningitis and both of them together have fascinated and terrified me ever since.

[@00muinamir]

The varieties of melon you're likely to get at the supermarket tend to be the ones that are bred for transport, not flavor or texture. I've grown heirloom varieties in my garden, and they're on a completely different level from store-bought.

[@qreeves]

Does the same thing apply to watermelons? I have the same issue with melons and had been considering getting some heirlooms and growing them myself but it's a lot of work to set up without knowing what the outcome would be.

[@00muinamir]

@@qreeves I haven't had the chance to do watermelons, actually--I usually do honeydew or cantaloupe types. Watermelons are a completely different type of melon, but I imagine it's a similar situation. If nothing else, you get the advantage of picking it when it's properly ripe.

[@rjwaters3]

Its a thing with very nearly every fruit or vegetable in your normal store, barring trademarked ones specifically trademarked so that distributors dont pressure farms to breed for more reliable transport, which inevitably harms the taste and texture.

[@Lovesausage269]

Ever grown some of those grey French ones I can’t remember the name of? I used to grow them lol

[@chloebutler8438]

@@Lovesausage269 charentais?

[@viridescentfen]

grew up in colorado and was absolutely traumatized by seeing how sick my sister got. she looked like she was on death's door for a week and was incredibly sick, it didn't help that our parents refused to take her to the hospital. watching her suffer like that though was horrible, and thankfully she recovered from it despite the lack of medical aid. and i am honestly greatful that being a picky eater saved me from getting listeriosis before i was even 10. having auto immune issues, i certainly could've been walloped or even put in the ground by it. being autistic and having mega sensory issues probably saved my life lol

[@jos0826]

Why did your parents refuse to take her to the hospital?

[@viridescentfen]

@jos0826 i would say none of your buisness in normal circumstances but my parents were abusers so i think you can understand those aren't normal circumstances lol, they just didn't give enough of a shit about her life to take her in

[@jos0826]

@viridescentfen oh, I was thinking maybe a religious reason. I know a kid that got hiv & his family tried praying it away. I'm sorry you & your sis had a rough childhood & I'm sorry the way your parents treated you still affects you 🕊🙏 ✨️

[@viridescentfen]

@jos0826 yeaah, we're doing ok now. actually able to get some form of health care lol. sorry if i came off hostile with the first reply, im not mad at you for being curious, it can just be off putting for some folks to be asked for details they didn't include in a story that might have some harsh answers/were opted out of the story for a reason and if it seems like it's gonna be that answer, it can be better to just let the missing details fill themselves in over time. and also thank you for not being hostile in return if you thought i was being an ass

[@user-wn8nu3uc5y]

For the past 5 years my job has been cutting fresh fruit in-house for a grocery store, including a bunch of different types of melons. We submerge fruit for 30 seconds in a diluted hydrogen peroxide/vinegar solution called Victory Wash, to sanitize the outside of the fruit before we cut. However, every time I'm training somebody, I make sure they get in the habit of firmly scrubbing every inch of melon skin thoroughly, and make them aware that melons are the most likely to carry foodborne pathogens. It's our obligation to take caution here. Melons and romaine lettuce are no joke!

[@ilovecatvideos1851]

Cut melon is the number one cause of people getting sick from prepared grocery foods. So thanks for you conscientiousness. But it’s less expensive for me to do it myself and I know I clean the rind well before I cut into it. (plus honeydews are easier to clean) Thanks John!! 💕

[@azrailfan2717]

With that wash solution how many parts or the ratio of the hydrogen peroxide to vinegar mix? And how do you rinse it off with? 🧐

[@namibjDerEchte]

@@azrailfan2717 it's non-toxic once dry (the only part that even irritates human digestive systems is the hydrogen peroxide, and that dries off (iirc it turns into oxygen and water when it evaporates out in the air, but not sure; either way it's gone).

[@alnabulsi313]

Thank you for your service! 🫡 It's an under-thanked profession but it really is a huge help for lots of folks to have access to a variety of fresh fruits that don't need any type of prep. 👏💪🙏

[@nabila9149]

Oh, that's why the travel agent advised not to eat lettuce at hotels.

[@jbw53191]

Excellent video! I'm a certified food safety instructor for the Department of Health. This would be a great video to include in my courses. Thank you for your work! (Loved the B roll, btw)

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Awesome thank you

[@johnladuke6475]

If your courses ever touch on irradiating products for sterilization, there's about three other videos on the channel you should share with anyone destined to work with Cobalt-60.

[@brieframe6746]

The b-roll footage looks like the start of a cantaloupe video dating site. Lounging by the fire, showing off the home, a glamour shot with side lighting... 😀 But seriously, though, fascinating story, and as always, I'm a fan of your videos! Makes me appreciate what goes on "under the hood" of society, so to speak. All the supply chains and specialties that we don't stop to think about if we're not part of them ourselves.

[@gtickno2946]

I saw a picture of a cantaloupe and guessed it was going to be Jensen Farms. Working in QA for food processing, specifically fruit, I've heard them brought up several times as an example of why food safety practices is important

[@metrotechguru5863]

I don't really care for melons myself. The random shots of cantaloupe throughout the video was just hilarious. Your juxtaposition of a sad topic with repetitive pictures of fruit was brilliant. Carry on, sir.

[@JackoNorm]

Releasing a legit video on April fools when everybody else is making joke videos almost feels like an April fool's joke itself. Also as a quick aside: more people have died from organic food contamination outbreaks than have ever died from GMO crops (0)

[@upstating]

@Syd McCreath what the hell are you on about?

[@Irobert1115HD]

well mark felton made a video on the remaining toilets of adolf hitler. serious video about a goofy topic.

[@MarcelaElviraTimis]

Fascinating Horror did a serious one, too.

[@polski_dezerter]

@Syd McCreath no no we cannot understate the deaths of children with the use of fire power in the other countries The US however does have a suspiciously higher ammount of them especialy lately and I'm not shure why It's proppably that there arent enough guns there /s

[@Irobert1115HD]

@@MarcelaElviraTimis maritme horrors had space ship losses for the last two years. the first was the loss of the UNSC pillar of autum (halo CE) and the second was the nostromo (alien).

[@jamesgill4035]

The number of your uploads I've watched. Only when you pointed out that hazmat guy 1 was standing on hazmat guy 2 foot. It's the difference between a good informative channel and pure gold. All your hard work is noticed. So many hours upon hours. Thankyou. ❤

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thanks for that!

[@jamesgill4035]

Always bud. You always look after the good people of the world. 👍

[@Reth_Hard]

@@PlainlyDifficult I really like your videos but I'm very disappointed that you don't like eating Cantaloupe, it's one of the most delicious and refreshing food on earth!!

[@abbycantrell1369]

​@@Reth_Hard cantalope gross

[@Reth_Hard]

@@abbycantrell1369 How dare you saying that!! 🤜😩🩸🩸🩸

[@santrypassnew]

I kind of thought this would be an April fools, but it checks out on Wikipedia?!

[@Irobert1115HD]

actually last year mark felton made a video on adolfs hitlers toilets on april first: a fully legit video on adolf hitlers toilets (or at least where the remaining ones are rn). you can do a serious video as a april fools joke if you choose a funny topic.

[@av_oid]

The pronunciation is the joke.

[@Irobert1115HD]

@@av_oid elaborate please. this may help to understand the joke for none native english speakers.

[@-desertpackrat]

I knew it was real right away but that's because I remember how big of a deal it was on the news when this was happening and it was ingrained permanently in my mind, it kept coming up everywhere that cantaloupes were this big issue. I still think about it now that I grow my own cantaloupes at home because when I think of cantaloupes, I think of this outbreak and how I kept hearing about it, even over 10 years later, it's just like linked to my idea of cantaloupes now lol

[@GrandDawggy]

​@@Irobert1115HD the guy is probably American and used to people saying "Cana-lope" is my guess This is the first time hearing it pronounced correctly for them

[@QueenCheetah]

Awesome coverage as always! Please consider doing a video on the peanut butter salmonella outbreaks of 2008/9, if you this it fits the 'scandal' series- it affected nearly all 50 U.S. states and over 700 people fell ill (with nine people dying).

[@michaelholston2233]

As a Colorado resident I can tell you that Rocky Ford hasn't completely recovered from this. Denver loves you Plainly D!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@JAMESWUERTELE]

Colorado Springs here 😁

[@daisiesforghosts]

My mom ALWAYS taught me thoroughly wash cantaloupe specifically since they can carry certain bacterias. I’m always shocked when people cut them and don’t rinse them thoroughly

[@i.336]

I´m german and I have never heard about washing a melon before cutting it. No one I know does that......never heard of any problems. Maybe they were washed before they are sold in the supermarket? That´s really new to me. Listeria I just know from rawmilk cheese........

[@Sumowning]

@@i.336 That's basically what the video made clear, jensen farms didn't install an anti-bacterial chlorine spray and instead just spray it with water. Along with the cantelopes not being properly pre-cooled leading to ideal breeding conditions of the bacteria and so it made it's way everywhere.

[@MiaMizuno]

Uff, OKAY I SHOULD START DOING IT! Thank you for educating me

[@Zyphera]

​@@i.336 Its more specific for cantaloupe as it and other sweet melons have almost natural ph.

[@nickw7619]

I literally don't wash any of my fruit, unless there's visible dirt on it (i.e. from a garden). The city water is so gross where I currently live anyway. My grandparents live in the mountains though and have well water... it's truly amazing the difference between that and 'city water' The creek behind their house has better water than what I get in my kitchen sink

[@aSinisterKiid]

lol I can just imagine your wife walking into the living room to see you filming a cantaloupe by the fire and chuckling to herself.

[@freedomthroughspirit]

I love cantaloupes... and did not realize that Listeria can take 2 months to take their full effect, yikes. Great video, thank you. This is why we're supposed to watch our fruits and veggies with safe gentle cleansers -- there's a lot of ick on them from all sorts of sources (from dirty hands to machinery to car exhaust to dirty boxes, etc.). Do I actually wash all my stuff? Nope. Should I? Yep.

[@CyanideOwl]

Don't eat them go natural and eat meat. Meat is not dirty when freshly cut.

[@MTGeomancer]

Food poisoning usually takes 1-2 days as well, sometimes longer, yet people often blame their last meal instead of what they had a day or two earlier.

[@JC-zv3cv]

You can avoid listeria by gently wiping freshly cut cantaloupe with raw chicken breasts.

[@regan3873]

@@JC-zv3cvCan you eat the chicken breasts

[@MiaMizuno]

​@@JC-zv3cvI am highly confused... Is it a joke on listeria being consumed aggressively by salmonella?

[@veramae4098]

There was an infected milk outbreak in U.S. traced back to Illinois about 3 decades ago. They knew which bottling site it was. Couldn't find any problems. The final guess was that some employee wasn't washing their hands after going to the bathroom, but of course once it became a big deal every employee was scrupulous about cleanliness. I don't remember for certain, bur I think some children had died. This is IMPORTANT.

[@Panda-cute]

This! It's also why milk needs to be pasteurized. Raw milk is a cesspool of disease and can kill people, especially kids. Our food needs to be clean, and some people just don't understand until its too late

[@bevinboulder5039]

I live in Colorado (obviously) and I never heard about the problems with the conveyor equipment nor the failure to use a chlorine rinse as opposed to tap water. I continue to be glad that I discovered your channel! Thanks.

[@jermainelong1843]

Given the events of the last few years it's actually amazing to see the CDC & FDA actually acting with integrity and the public's best interests at the fore. How the mighty have fallen.

[@vampireinsomniac2251]

I remember hearing about this when I was eleven. I hated cantaloupe, and still do, so I never thought too much about the whole thing. Had no idea it was that serious.

[@MiaMizuno]

Haha! In Germany we had around 2002 (when I was a 12 year old) a scandal of a highly known food distributor which sells freezed cakes. One girl died while vomitting. I do not remember what Kind of contamination it was, but this report shocked me so much, I do not buy these cakes, even though they are highly popular here

[@Tiger351]

This ended up being big news in Australia for some reason, there was a lot of concerns that the same thing could potentially happen here and a slowdown in sales of what we call "Rock Melons" for several growing seasons after this incident.

[@spicywolf6718]

Another one of us. It wasn't all that long ago I looked up cantaloupe with absolutely no clue what the word meant, only to realise how sheltered a life I'd lived growing up eating 'rock melon'

[@johnladuke6475]

I feel like somewhere in Australian history is a snickering fruit merchant walking away from the man who just bought the posh new Rock Melons and helped get rid of that cargo of mushy cantaloupe.

[@JC-zv3cv]

..we dont call them rock melons in australia..victorians call them cantaloupes and presumably NSW & SA as well..rock melons is a QLD thing.

[@spicywolf6718]

@@JC-zv3cv we, most people I know in NSW call them rockmelon, may be a more regional thing rather than state.

[@scpcontainmentstaff]

@@JC-zv3cv Might be your region of Vic. I’ve heard both used and mostly rock melon not cantaloupe

[@ronkemperful]

I’m with you, I dislike cantaloupes for they are usually either too ripe or green for fit human consumption. But nevertheless I found your presentation interesting for as a Colorado resident and as a nurse working with immune compromised oncology patients - we had to be extra vigilant when it came to this 2011 outbreak. Fortunately I personally saw no listeria related deaths among my own patients. For us all we too need to be more cautious when dealing with fruits and vegetables. Though they seem safe and healthy to consume, produce needs to be treated with the same degree of diligence as dairy and meat.

[@gregmeyer9595]

Having worked in Quality assurance in food production plants for over 20 years I can say that regular testing, cleaning and procedures in place (if followed) can prevent this sort of outbreak. The real problem begins with 1- employees trying to hide the positive hit, or 2- not following the procedures all the way thru. I have been in 2 plants that found listeria and both times isolating the affected area and doing strenuous cleaning and testing can and will get you back to clean and taking no chances with public health risk. (One plant, although did keep the isolation and cleaning tried to hide the hits from the books and therefore lost me and several other employees for lying. I quit not long after)

[@Solidst8dad2112]

In defense of the Cantaloupe. It is basically a multi-vitamin in fruit form. if you can adjust to the taste, they really are a healthy food choice!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

I probably should force myself

[@JosieJOK]

@@PlainlyDifficultIt helps if you live in an area that gets hot and humid. Nothing like an ice-cold cantaloupe on a hot summer’s day! Organic, of course: mass-produced cantaloupes have no taste.

[@Alaryicjude]

@@PlainlyDifficult, I know this sounds absolutely bonkers but try it with some salt sprinkled on top! I really only like to eat cantaloupe when I salt it! It's surprisingly delicious! (I promise this is not an April Fool's joke.)

[@elizabethfrohn-hengst296]

​@@JosieJOK I mean organic cantaloupes are still mass produced

[@ljubomirculibrk4097]

​@@Alaryicjude Something salty, like a piece of a nice old chesse or italian ham.

[@richardrichards8401]

Excellent video, I’m in the chocolate business so was interested in how this could happen. Cleanliness so important, noticed shoes were tracking listeria everywhere. We actually have a shoe scrubber in our wash station. Thanks again 😎

[@kristinfrostlazerbeams]

Cantaloupe isn't good unless perfectly ripe. In other words, not when it is picked early and shipped around the world. I've only had maybe 3 good ones my whole life, and those were from a neighbor who grew them.

[@lifespanwellnessbeauty-60i64]

It's never, ever, ever good.😅

[@exiledwolfch]

We usually don't eat cantaloupe here in my country , we add it for milkshakes because it makes the milkshake taste fresh, didn't knew about this outbreak which is interesting.

[@GodDamnitTwitch]

I love all the b roll you did, it seems like you had entirely too much fun shooting all that.

[@DerailedThoughts]

My first child was born yesterday, beautiful little girl and me and the missus watched this to pass time during contractions. Thanking you John from a currently sunny but windy corner in Kerry, Ireland.

[@CyanideOwl]

Ok but who asked

[@costafinn9982]

@@CyanideOwl why so rude?

[@MayFlora]

Very cute, congratulations!

[@RebeccaFitzgerald666]

This happened in Australia in 2018, they were linked to a single grower just outside of my town. Not as many people infected, I think it was about 18 infections and 6 deaths. It was a pretty big story here at the time.

[@arianamaria_]

I love hearing John saying “cantaloops” it makes me giggle 😂

[@Julianna.Domina]

Aww, congrats on the child! I'm happy for you, Mr.Difficult 💙

[@inlovewithgoats1092]

That intro!!! Your editing has been improving a lot recently, but this really is a whole new level of quality!

[@baker_canner]

Maryland here. I remember this. IMO, the Jensens were intentionally negligent. As I recall, one of the brothers decided they would not use chlorine or an antibacterial wash because it was too costly and their finances were not in the best shape IMO, they knew or SHOULD HAVE KNOWN that as food distributors they were required to use antibacterial wash on those cantaloupes. Because of this incident a lot of Americans were wary about eating any fresh fruits and vegetables.

[@mraaronfrancis]

agree! From the facts presented I would certainly say there were negligent!

[@drdrew3]

It’s very hard to prove INTENT. That would have required a costly and lengthy criminal trial with no guarantee on success. That’s why prosecutors chose to pursue a plea deal. Like it or not our legal system involves a lot of compromise. Good chance they would have been found “not guilty” if tried as criminals

[@info_fox]

Little did that cantaloupe at the store you bought knew. It was going to be a star!

[@rcrawford42]

I know that around this time, at least one major US grocery chain updated their cash registers so they REFUSE to sell anything on recall. It might take a couple hours for the command to get to all the stores, but that's still faster than getting the word out and pulling it from the shelves.

[@lornaginetteharrison7168]

100% can confirm: Leaving your cantaloupe halfway down the stairs can be *very* deadly! 😱

[@katiekane5247]

Not to mention putting a warm melon in a cooler.

[@aaroncs1979]

My town was the sight that accidentally mixed PBB into cattle feed. That ended up in the supply of meat. This was in the 70 PBB is still showing in blood samples today. And the sight of the mix-up is a super fund sight.

[@ZolaClyde]

Wow! I don’t know I’ve ever heard of this… sounds like an interesting subject for a Plainly Difficult video, unless he made one already and I need to look for it.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Outtakes and B-Roll: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHTTm2OcYst2a8U Outro song: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqmniHpsabmSsMk Patreon: www.patreon.com/Plainlydifficult Instagram: instagram.com/plainly.john/ Merch: plainly-difficult.creator-spring.com Twitter:twitter.com/Plainly_D

[@The_Notorious_N.O.E.]

You mentioned early in the video that some might consider this the second worst food contamination case in U.S. history, so what would be the other case and would you ever make a video on that one?

[@remysebald8893]

Felt so bad for laughing at all your delightful melon B roll while hearing you talk about people's horrible deaths. I love your content man, always so informative, keep it up

[@wormworm580]

Funnily enough cucumbers are actually melons, so you could probably just assume your body has some kind of melon malignancy.

[@AppliedCryogenics]

Ohh! Your update about photographing cantaloupes wasn't just some quirky artistic lark! (I should have been able to suss that out sooner. Derp.)

[@PlainlyDifficult]

It was a bit of both

[@suzatlarge]

I live in Colorado and I remember this well. I swear, as a result, I am kind of a fiend about washing any fresh produce before I cut it. Good video!

[@chesspiece81]

Cantaloupe with some salt and pepper is actually really, really good. Like this upload, John. I live in the United States, and I don't ever remember hearing about this.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

I’ll have to try it

[@chesspiece81]

​@@PlainlyDifficult Jensen is growing Hemp now. Since they were based out of Colorado I'm not sure if that is "hemp" or the devil's lettuce. If you do try it I wouldn't put much salt on it, just a little but the pepper does really help the juicy flavor of the cantaloupe pop.

[@chesspiece81]

​@@PlainlyDifficult l don't know if you get Lawry's brand seasonings across the pond John but they have some pepper called Seasoned Pepper. It has a blue top on the container. If you like adding black pepper to your food and kind find some of this type of black pepper I am talking about you should pick some up ane give it a try. I'm not really sure if salt and pepper on the table as a staple is the same for yall as it in here in the southern US but seasonings, spices and hot sauces are an absolute must.

[@chesspiece81]

@@PlainlyDifficult You should, have a great week John. Enjoyed the upload as always.

[@Wallahi13]

“I don’t think I’ve ever actually cut one up before” before making the most majestic cut I’ve ever seen

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you! I’m lucky I still have my fingers

[@lightdreamer_]

That is.... F'ing brilliant. A video about something so darn absurd we'd think it was fake due to the date, but is completely true! You're a mad man!

[@BradGryphonn]

That was a seriously under-ripe Rockmelon (Cantaloupe). I worked a on a large Rockmelon farm in Australia in the late 80s. When they're ripened properly, they are beautiful melons. Really, really sweet, and slightly soft in the mouth.

[@SueMead]

Yep. They're better than mango but together they're a great combination with pawpaw and honeydew melon. Yummy.

[@Truckngirl]

You paid two quid for a lovely cantaloupe? WTF? Do they grow there? In USD that's $2.46. For one melon? I'm in Hawaii, I'd have to give over $8 (GBP £ 6.45) and that's if I could find one, they're out of season!

[@skittstuff]

I remember this!! I'm nowhere near CO but I remember it being on the news. I was 9 lol. Still scared me away from cantaloupe for years. It's interesting when you cover something that I was around for! Digging the scandal series a lot. Keep up the great work Mr. Plainly :D

[@luvondarox]

Oh, no. Not our Rocky Fords! The moment you said Colorado, I knew it had to be Rocky Ford.😢

[@ducky19991]

I especially enjoy your videos related to food disasters, so interesting

[@Fenderdfm]

A Cantaloupe has never been played with and photographed as much as this one! That melon was in every room of your house! Well done! Made it a kind of famous melon!

[@Adipose69]

I went down a Google rabbit hole not 4 days ago about Listeria, crazy that this should drop so soon after! Excellent video mate, cheers.

[@koncuzion9511]

Told my mum that me and my girlfriend weren’t gonna have a big wedding, and instead just go to the court house and sign the paperwork. Mum was horrified and cried “no please I beg you, you cantaloupe”… I’ll get my coat

[@janemiettinen5176]

Thank you for going the extra mile, when you dont even like cantaloupe! I enjoyed the b-roll way more than I shouldve. The sleeping melon might be my all time favorite, or at least close to it :)

[@nursejanainholland1978]

I suspect the sleeping cantaloupe was a subtle reference to the, um, horse's head in a guy's bed in the movie The Godfather.

[@janemiettinen5176]

@@nursejanainholland1978 Ok, now its even funnier to me. Dankje well :)

[@nerdygoth6905]

This was an interesting change. Not your usual, but please do a biography of Joseph Lister!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

One day I hope to do a video on all the great quakers

[@jtgd]

Imagine surviving 94 years to die after eating cantaloupe….

[@tgmcface]

Doing a great job with the videos. Keep it up!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@charlie15627]

Rocky Ford Cantaloupes are the most tasty, flavorful, cantaloupes you can find. It has something to do with the soil in the Rocky Ford region. After living in Colorado for several years, I can attest to this. After eating a Rocky Ford melon, all other melons seem dull, watery and tasteless. Outside of the Colorado area it’s harder to find them and you can expect to pay a great deal more for them. Your sacrilegious statements about cantaloupes will not be forgotten, John. lol

[@rubydown3329]

Gotta try a Pecos melon if you're ever in TX :) Grocery store melons just can't compete

[@JAMESWUERTELE]

It might also be the cool, humid nights. Same with Olathe corn on the Western Slope.

[@pigmentpeddler5811]

Melon shill

[@joeyr7294]

I love all fruits, including Mellon's....but mango or kiwi definitely take the cake! Tha ks for the content as always John. 🍻

[@cw4608]

I am really enjoying your channel. Keep up the good work!

[@leok3347]

Loving the B-Roll seems like you had fun making this one :D

[@Thesis_Rose]

This is how I find out you have a kid lol

[@thejudgmentalcat]

You missed one of his music vids where he cooks pesto rotini for his kid 😊

[@rolofaladine6493]

That bit of your daughter keeping you away from the mango was a personal attack against me and my daughter, or at least it felt that way.

[@ArwinAbsinthe]

Liking the new intro, John! Thanks for the video.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thanks 👍

[@rynecjohnston]

I previously worked researching methylmercury. It is an absolutely terrifying compound that causes an agonizing death at as little as 200 mg and has been implicated in very deadly scandals (e.g., Chisso Corp. causing Minamata disease) or incidents (1971 Iraq poison grain disaster) that each of which would make for interesting topics for your channel. If you ever do end up covering this devil of a chemical, I'd be happy to provide some talking points into its chemistry and biochemistry.

[@ZolaClyde]

I’m w/you on melons except watermelons because they are so refreshing! I wondered why I didn’t remember this outbreak until I saw your map and it didn’t effect Massachusetts. Fortunately in far western MA (Berkshire County, 3 hrs west of Boston) there’s lots of local farmers markets to go to. I liked the fun you had with the accursed cantaloupe B-Roll!🍈😊

[@AntBangBang]

Really interesting video John.

[@synapse349]

Very niiiice production, my man!

[@brianedwards7142]

Australia had something similar a few years ago but it was on melons that were pre-cut at the supermarkets.

[@ggoddkkiller1342]

I can easily say you've never eaten a fully mature cantaloupe as they would literally taste like honey and nobody could dislike them, it is against human nature lol.

[@SansNeural]

He's English... I think he's required to boil his food before eating it ;)

[@annis037]

Super awesome cantaloupe b-roll! It made me chuckle in the middle of pretty serious video. Appreciated.

[@bubbadunnam3944]

Another great video, keep up the good work

[@-desertpackrat]

I've been growing cantaloupes myself for a couple years now, last time I got 2 cantaloupes the size of a tennis ball, then I saved the seeds from them, and planted them last year, and got a bunch of them and one was bigger than my head, like way bigger than any cantaloupe I've ever seen, that was pretty cool, especially since I'm in the desert and it's super hard to grow melons here. Even though I grow them though, I don't much like them either, I don't like most fruits that are "musky" flavored, there's a reason the other name for cantaloupe is "musk melon", I just can't stand that taste, some people love it. I LOVE cucumbers though, they don't have that "musk" flavor, they are just refreshing and nice.

[@kaylaherrera4544]

I prefer honeydew. Honeydew is awesome

[@YouTubeviolatesmy1stamendment]

It amazes me that these government agencies were able to connect to sick people only seven cases yet when there are thousands of deaths they're not able to draw any correlation at all even though all of the victims have it documented in their medical history

[@PlainlyDifficult]

It’s very impressive

[@TrianglePants]

almost like they dgaf

[@omarb7164]

Safe and effective

[@annnee6818]

Any specific thing you're referring to? Correlation is meaningless anyway, absolutely everyone who dies has drunk water at some point in their life (and done many other common things a lot of people do) that doesn't mean that's what they died from, you need a causative connection. Correlations don't provide those.

[@daviddavidson2357]

@@annnee6818 They probably can't even directly say what they're referring to due to KZbin censorship, they don't want to be branded as a misinformation terrorist. Though I'm sure it was something that millions of people were cajoled, bullied and threatened into getting, a thing that didn't help much, if at all against the thing it was supposed to protect you from and now people who got that thing are dropping dead, all with the same symptoms.

[@amypondhikes]

Great video as always!

[@merc7105]

B-Roll of melon tucked into bed cracked me up. Cheers mate.

[@alexsnightmare]

Hearing a baby died and a woman had a miscarriage is heartbreaking. My mom's go-to food when she was pregnant with me was cantaloupe and she still loves it today. Curious as to if she knows about this case or not.

[@EnderKittynet]

what about the other people who died? do you seriously think that the lives of babies are more important than the lives of people?

[@goytabr]

One small correction that may be useful for future videos as well: the rules for writing biological species names specify that the first (genus) name must be written with an uppercase initial, but the second (species) name must be in all-lowercase. So, it would be *Listeria monocytogenes,* not "Monocytogenes." Additionally, although this does not apply to the name as shown in this video, the rules also say that the species name must be highlighted and differentiated from the surrounding text in some way: Italics (most commonly), boldface, underlines, even quotes at a pinch. There are other rules (where applicable) for writing the subgenus, subspecies, unknown or unspecified species, name of the discoverer and year, etc., but the rules considered really important in biology are these for the case and highlighting of genus and species names.

[@kimhohlmayer7018]

I find all your videos but the intro to this one was especially fine. Music was particularly great as well. Also, my family and I are big fans of cantaloupe. Thankfully, we never suffered from any illness from said cantaloupe.

[@chris_is_here_oh_no]

Excellent video, always fascinating.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@MarkJoseph81]

Fun fact: cucumbers ARE a melon!

[@shatterscape]

Thats why Melons are superior to Cantaloupes.

[@mtmadigan82]

Thats the view generally reserved for someone with downs syndrome and some other kind of undiagnosed TBI.

[@tookitogo]

Cantaloupes are a type of melon.

[@doormatt76]

He really said cantaloops

[@doormatt76]

9:32

[@tookitogo]

@Syd McCreath But he did: he pronounced the end of the word as “aloop”, not like “alope” (similar to the word “elope”), which is how I’ve always heard it pronounced.

[@CynnamonSpyder]

I love how you pause at the end to look outside for the weather report.

[@philipmurphy2]

I am enjoying your KZbin channel, Keep up the great work.

[@JAMESWUERTELE]

I live here in Colorado and from here. It screwed up the already poor melon industry down in the valley. They are a good family though, and took responsibility for the accident. No cantaloupes that year. Honeydews are good also.

[@benmanning6649]

Rockmelon

[@av_oid]

The Rockmelon is the Cantaloupe’s cooler cousin that went electric.

[@georgefspicka5483]

Mrs. Plainly? Love it :)

[@ljenk5]

Thanks John, don’t know why, but I’ve never heard of this, very interesting, cheers!

[@thejudgmentalcat]

I've got the flu 🤧 😷🤢🤒 (apparently NOT in my flu shot), so was struggling with the April Fools Day thing ("Izzit real?"). I like cantaloupe and honeydew but your daughter is correct...mango is the s**t ❤

[@PlainlyDifficult]

It is the goat

[@TrianglePants]

great case for not repeatedly submitting

[@lipstickzombie4981]

As someone who never ate fresh fruit outside of mangoes and bananas and always had fully cooked veggies (I only eat them for fiber, my pills will cover the vitamins and minerals), I tell my relatives it takes time to die from diabetes, hypertension and other chronic diseases but it just takes days to die from food poisoning. ☺️

[@binkao2938]

I feel sad for you

[@404eitch]

getting hit by a car is instant but i'm still gonna go outside

[@sabotabby3372]

A little fruit would cause less despair I think

[@Sanas_Shy_Language]

Thanks to this video, I have discovered that I have an irrational fear of cantaloupes, specifically looking at their outside, I can eat it without the skin, but if it’s on it still, no thanks. Literally the b-roll gave me chills- I guess I just never seen cantaloupe but it freaks me out and makes me want to crawl away :) still watched the video though!

[@shiftypersona]

I've always loved cantaloupe. (AKA muskmelon) Some fond memories of early mornings at my grandmothers house having it with breakfast.

[@gatsbye53]

Mmmm delicious!