When the phrase "defective product" jumps to mind, Pittsburgh residents probably think of manufactured items that can malfunction and cause physical wounds. But the fact is there are many types of defective products – including one that may be lurking in your local grocery store and could pose a special risk to women and children.

A Colorado farm recently disclosed that it has found listeria in its cantaloupe, meaning people who eat it are at risk for a food-borne illness. Pennsylvania is one of the states that received shipments of the tainted melons.

Listeria is a bacteria normally found in the stomachs of ruminant animals, such as cows. Listeriosis, the illness it causes, is rare among healthy adults, but it is a concern for pregnant women or parents with young children, as infants and toddlers have not yet acquired full-strength immune systems. Listeriosis can induce muscle aches, vomiting and fever. If it spreads to the nervous system, it can cause meningitis, a much more dangerous disease that causes an inflammation of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord.

Jensen Farms, a Denver-area cantaloupe grower, is not yet sure how the listeria infected its cantaloupe, but it stopped harvesting the fruit Monday after a listeria-tainted cantaloupe was found in a grocery store. It is the first time listeria has been linked to cantaloupe in the U.S.

So far, the deaths of one person in Colorado and another in New Mexico have been linked to the listeria. Test results on two more deaths in New Mexico are pending. There is a possibility that the listeria that induced these deaths is not the same as the strain found in the Jensen Farms cantaloupe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration are still investigating the outbreak.

Source: The Associated Press, "Colorado farm says Listeria found in cantaloupe," Steven K. Paulson, Sept. 15, 2011.