Health | listeria FDA Finds Soiled Equipment at Cantaloupe Farm It could explain how listeria outbreak started at Colorado facility By Dustin Lushing Posted Oct 19, 2011 5:32 PM CDT Copied A field with rotting cantaloupes is pictured on the Jensen Farms near Holly, Colo., on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski) Federal health inspectors discovered listeria inside the packing facility of the Colorado farm that shipped out lethal cantaloupes, killing 25 people so far, reports USA Today. FDA officials also found several sanitation problems, including dirty and contaminated equipment that could explain how listeria spread to the fruit. For example, a truck that ferried waste cantaloupes to a cattle farm was parked near the open-air packing facility. Cow manure on the wheels could have infected the produce, say officials. Other violations at Jensen Farms included pools of water on the floor and a dirty potato-washing machine (for the cantaloupes) that could have introduced listeria into the facility. The farm bought the hard-to-clean washer in July, the same month the outbreak started, notes AP. Read These Next President Monroe's daughter wrote a desperate plea in 1839. Online boo-bears go after the demo firm tearing White House apart. Author Michael Wolf has sued the first lady. Dem taking on Susan Collins addresses 'secret Nazi' claim. Report an error