Cantaloupe Advice

A little bit of info I spotted in Cook's Illustrated.

Cleaner Cantaloupe

While researching various fresh fruits for our Summer Fruit Salad, we came across a surprising fact: Certain strains of salmonella can get into the nooks and crannies of cantaloupe's porous skin while they are growing in the field. Once there, they produce bacterial polymer biofilms—cardobydrate-based sheaths that protect the bacteria from even the most aggressive cleaning attempts. Our tests showed that even a scrub-down in antibacterial soap was completely ineffective in removing these dangerous bacteria, which reside only on the surface of the melons. To minimize the risk of salmonella infection, food safety experts suggest the following:

• Choose clean, unbruised, unblemished melons and stay away from precut melons.
• Use a sharp knife to cut melons—a dull knife can push the rind into the flesh, causing contamination.
• Trim away the rind before eating or storing, and store any remaining flesh in the refrigerator within two hours of cutting.
• Wash your cutting board with hot, soapy water after cutting melons.
• Make sure you keep cut melon well refrigerated if you plan on bringing it on a picnic.

It takes quite a bit to surprise the staff at Cook's Illustrated I think, so this info may be a surprise to you. I think the detail about the indestructible biofilm was the new info for CI.

Generally, I prefer ripe, slightly bruised cantaloupes. And then, after a plain water rinse, I juice the whole thing (rind included) in my Champion juicer. No ill effects yet.