Authorities investigating a nationwide salmonella outbreak say the bacteria has been found on rock melons from a Northern Territory farm.
Health authorities in Australia continue to find the source of the outbreak.
Northern Territory-based company Red Dirt Melons has agreed to take its products off shelves if its fruit tested positive for the bacteria.
So far 86 people – including many young children – are known to have contracted the rare salmonella hvittingfoss bacteria in the past seven weeks.
Half the cases were in NSW.
Director of health protection in NSW Dr Jeremy McAnulty said NSW Health was working closely with the NSW Food Authority and other jurisdictions to investigate possible origins of the contamination.
“Although the source of the outbreak at this stage is still unclear, consumption of rockmelon is common to many of the patients in NSW,” McAnulty said.
“As a precaution, anyone who may have rockmelon in their home and is unsure of its origin should not eat the product.”
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has warned consumers – especially infants, the elderly, pregnant women or people with compromised immune systems – not to consume rockmelon while the investigation continues.
The Australian Melon Association has called for more information.
“We want more details so consumers can find out which parts of Australia are not impacted,” Dianne Fullelove of the Australian Melon Association said.
“We would like to have our supply chain moving. At the moment it’s virtually stopped.”
The fruit has previously been linked to salmonella, with 50 cases of the Saintpaul strain reported in NSW in 2006.
