People started dying in summer, 2011. In September the CDC reported an outbreak of Listeria infections that eventually killed 30 people in 12 states. The FDA called it the deadliest food-borne illness outbreak since 1924. Listeriosis (an infection caused by Listeria) is nasty – it particularly afflicts babies, the fragile, the pregnant, and the elderly. Its overall mortality rate is 20-30%.

People prefer their melons cleaned-up and spiffy.

The Listeria infections were traced to cantaloupes from Jensen Farms in Colorado. Jensen Farms immediately ordered a recall of the whole crop, but 300,000 melons had already gone forth.

The melon operation was run by brothers Eric and Ryan Jensen, 4th generation Colorado farmers. Jensen Farms had just passed a food safety audit the week before. The audit was done by an outside contractor, who gave them a score of 96 out of 100.

Investigators descended. One thing they focused on was a potato washer.

Now you’re talking spiffy melons.

The FDA, working with other federal and state agencies, detected Listeria in the washing and packing areas. They found that contaminated water had pooled on floors, that the floor was constructed in a way that was hard to clean, and that there was no pre-cooling step before the cantaloupes went in cold storage. This meant moisture could condense on the melons, creating an inviting surface for the growth of Listeria.

The equipment was also hard to clean and disinfect, and a big culprit was a used potato washer the brothers had recently acquired and put into use.

Potatoes are being washed in the yellow structure.

They were also criticized for removing a step in which the cantaloupes were sprayed with chlorine, although they did scrub them with special brushes, using nice clean municipal water. (The chlorine step was not required.)

Eric and Ryan Jensen were charged with introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce, and pleaded guilty.

Sentencing finally happened this January. The prosecution did not ask for jail time. Before the judge pronounced sentence, family members of people who’d died of Listeriosis addressed the court.

Paul F. Schwarz, whose father died, asked the Jensens “What were you thinking?” Jim Weatherred said his father would have wanted them to get probation. “Sending those boys to jail isn’t going to help anybody.” Patricia Hauser, whose husband died, wanted prison. “I can’t begin to describe how ghastly it is to watch someone die,” Hauser said. “Someone took my Michael from me, and it just isn’t fair.”

Thing about a potato is that it gets cooked as well as washed.

A reporter commented that the Jensens “showed little to no emotion.” That doesn’t mean much.

The brothers each apologized in court. “This has been a huge tragedy. We are very, very sorry. We hope it leads to better understanding of food safety,” said Eric.

Ryan said, “My most sincere apologies and deepest regrets. I hope the victims’ meeting helped. I do know that much has been gained in food safety understanding both here and outside the country because of this.”

Neither of these apologies are particularly eloquent. Eric’s is better than Ryan’s. It’s more direct – although “I am sorry” would have been better than “We are sorry.” They both hint that more needs to be known about food safety – so THEY COULDN’T HAVE KNOWN. Which is only partly true – standing water? damp melons? who knows where that potato washer had been?

Can’t believe we still have to wash and cook these things. Worst internship ever.

The “victims’ meeting” Ryan referred to took place in November, at the behest of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. It had been stipulated that nothing the Jensens said there could be used against them in the criminal trial or in a civil lawsuit. Eric and Ryan apologized then, and Eric and Ryan heard heartrending stories from survivors. It was called “difficult and emotional.”

The Jensens were each sentenced to 6 months home detention, 5 years of probation, $150,000 of restitution, and 100 hours of community service. The judge said that way they can support their families and pay further restitution. (They had already declared bankruptcy, which resulted in nearly $4 million going to victims and their families.)

Some were angry that the Jensens hadn’t apologized earlier in the two years since the deaths. But Ryan Jensen’s lawyer, Richard Banta, said they hadn’t been told the identities of the victims until fall 2013.

That won’t fly. You can make a public apology without that information, and without making damaging admissions. You don’t have to say “Sorry, I knew all along it was a mistake to use a second-hand potato washer that was hard to disinfect.” You say “I am so sorry. I’m horrified at the thought that our produce could make people sick.”

I suspect that the brothers’ lawyers had advised them against apologizing before trial, on general, old-fashioned. semi-superstitious, admit-nothing grounds. But justice delayed is justice denied. Apologies are similar – delay blunts their power.

“We’ve been meaning for years to say sorry about the dead people”? Oh dear.

Michael Exley died in the Listeria outbreak. His wife Penny expressed anger that the brothers hadn’t apologized before. “What would it have taken for their lawyers to have written a letter, you know maybe that would have helped at the beginning with the trauma that we were going through.” Of the cantaloupe, she said, “I bought it, I cut it up and I fed it to him, and now I have to live with those consequences. I don’t think Ryan and Eric Jensen understood the magnitude.”

The Jensens are suing the auditing firm (proceeds to go to the victims). Victims’ families have sued the Jensens, the auditors, and retailers who sold the cantaloupes.

Everyone says the Listeria deaths have triggered changes. Even before the outbreak, President Obama had signed a food-safety bill shifting the emphasis from response to prevention of illness outbreaks. This will include auditor training. And I am confident that the market for second-hand potato washers has cratered.