US cantaloupe producer Jensen Farms has reportedly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, five months after being pinpointed as the source of a fatal listeria outbreak last year.
Lawsuits linked to the outbreak, which caused around 30 deaths and dozens of hospitalisations, are prominent in the filing, the Denver Post reported.
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In January, a US federal investigation into the outbreak found Jensen had ignored government safety guidelines.
The outbreak, which took place between September and December, was the deadliest foodborne illness outbreak in the US in over 25 years. As well as the deaths, 146 people became ill and a pregnant woman miscarried.
According to the filing with the Colorado Bankruptcy Court in Denver, the farm had US$4.8m in revenue in the past 12 months, the Denver Post reported. The farm lists $2.1m in assets and $2.5m in liabilities and claims it had $1.6m in payments outstanding from Frontera Produce, the distributor Jensen used that is also the subject of a number of lawsuits.
It is understood the company filed for bankruptcy on Friday. Jensen could not be reached for comment.
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