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Approximately 128,000 people are hospitalized and 3,000 die from preventable foodborne diseases each year.
Payton, USA Today
Health officials are investigating the outbreak of new salmonella related to cucumbers sold nationwide after incidents were detected in more than a dozen states, federal officials announced this week.
Cultivated by Florida-based Bedner Growers and distributed through the sale of fresh start produce, the cucumbers are linked to the Centers for Salmonella Outbreak, Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The vegetables were distributed this spring to retailers, distribution centres, wholesalers and food service distributors. The agency did not specifically identify where the cucumbers were sold.
So far, no deaths have been reported. However, 26 people from 15 states have been ill with salmonella and nine patients will need to be hospitalized, federal officials have announced.
USA Today contacted Bedner.
Testing links cucumbers to salmonella
As part of a follow-up test in April 2025, FDA investigators collected environmental samples from Bedner growers who tested positive for salmonella and matched recent clinical samples from people with illness.
Recent follow-up tests stem from the 2024 outbreak of Salmonella Africanna and Salmonella Blender Up linked to cucumbers grown on the same Florida-based farm. The FDA has been disgusted with about 551 people in 34 states who previously reported cucumbers reminiscent of the outbreak. Of the patients, 125 were hospitalized, reported by the CDC, and the outbreak ended in late August 2024. No deaths were reported.
Last month’s FDA Traceback investigation identified Bedner as “as the common grower of cucumbers in the latest outbreak,” the FDA wrote in its announcement.
“Don’t sell or offer the entire cucumber grown by Bedner Growers Inc. and distributed by Fresh Start Produce Inc. between April 29, 2025 and May 19, 2025,” the FDA wrote.
What cucumbers are linked to the outbreak of salmonella?
The entire cucumber is Bedner Growers, Inc. of Boynton Beach, Florida. was cultivated by.
According to the FDA, they were on sale from April 29th to May 19th and from April 29th to May 19th.
Salmonella outbreaks in 15 states
As of May 19, cucumber-related salmonella outbreaks have made 26 people sick in the next 15 states.
- Alabama
- California
- Colorado
- Florida
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- North Carolina
- new york
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Virginia
What is Salmonella?
Salmonella is a creature that can cause serious and fatal infections in children, the elderly, and other people with weakened immune systems, according to the CDC.
Most people infected with salmonella begin to develop symptoms 12-72 hours after eating contaminated products. The main symptoms are diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps.
According to the CDC, most people recover without treatment, but in rare circumstances, infections can require hospitalization. Pregnant women are also at a higher risk of developing an infection through IT and should see a doctor if symptoms develop.
Consumers who eat affected cucumbers and have symptoms should contact their health care provider to report their symptoms, the FDA says, and they are receiving care.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter at USA Today. Contact her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her at x @natalielu
