A North Texas mother says her 4-month-old daughter ended up hospitalized and unresponsive after touching pumpkin seeds and pulp during a daycare craft activity.
Quick Take
- Briana Robertson says her infant daughter got salmonella after handling pumpkin guts in a Ziploc bag at daycare.
- The baby developed vomiting, high fever, and severe diarrhea about two days later, then became dehydrated and unresponsive.
- Doctors told the family pumpkin exposure was the likely source since the baby was not yet eating table food.
- Food safety experts confirm pumpkins can carry salmonella on the rind, which can spread to the pulp when cut.
What Happened During The Daycare Pumpkin Activity
Robertson says her daughter’s daycare class did a pumpkin activity where a teacher scooped out the seeds and pulp and placed them in a sealed bag for the babies to touch. Her daughter was only 4 months old at the time. “There wasn’t much she could do other than touch the bag,” Robertson told CBS Texas. Within days, the infant was seriously ill.
About two days after the activity, the baby started vomiting, ran a high fever, and had severe diarrhea, according to the CBS Texas report. She grew so dehydrated that she became unresponsive at one point. NBC DFW reported the child turned lethargic and purple, refusing to eat or drink, and that emergency room staff in Athens made 15 attempts before successfully placing an IV.
Doctors Point To The Pumpkin As The Likely Culprit
After several rounds of testing, doctors confirmed the baby had a salmonella infection, Robertson said. Because the infant was not yet eating solid table foods, her doctors determined the pumpkin exposure was the most probable source of the bacteria. That timing and feeding history narrowed the list of possible causes to the daycare activity itself.
Dr. Zachary Stone, a primary care provider with Children’s Health, explained the likely mechanism to NBC DFW. Salmonella often lives on a pumpkin’s outer rind, and cutting into it can carry the bacteria straight into the pulp inside. Once that happens, any child touching the scooped-out seeds and guts can pick up the bacteria on their hands or mouth.
Why A Pumpkin Can Carry The Same Risk As Raw Meat
Most parents link salmonella to raw chicken or eggs, not fall crafts. But the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notes that fresh produce, including pumpkins, can pick up salmonella through contact with soil, water, or improper handling long before it ever reaches a classroom table. A pumpkin sitting in a field or truck bed has plenty of chances to collect bacteria before anyone carves it. Stone also pointed to a recent salmonella outbreak in France tied to pumpkin seeds, underscoring that the bacteria’s link to pumpkins is not some one-off fluke. Carved pumpkins left at room temperature for more than two hours also enter what food safety experts call the “danger zone,” where bacteria multiply fastest. That detail matters for daycares, classrooms, and homes that display carved pumpkins for days at a time.
What Parents And Caregivers Should Watch For This Fall
Infants and toddlers face higher risk from foodborne illness because their immune systems are still developing. Health officials recommend washing produce thoroughly before cutting it, supervising young children closely during hands-on crafts, and keeping raw pumpkin material away from infants who cannot yet wash their own hands. Simple precautions during seasonal activities can prevent the kind of medical emergency the Robertson family went through.
Robertson’s daughter has since recovered, but her mother wants other families to think twice before letting babies handle pumpkin seeds and pulp directly. Doctors note that severe infant cases tied to pumpkins remain uncommon, yet this family’s experience shows the risk is real enough to warrant caution during this year’s pumpkin season.
Sources:
youtube.com, cbsnews.com, nbcdfw.com
