Cantaloupe vs honeydew melon: nutrition compared

— not reported by USDA for this food.

— not reported by USDA for this food.

They are close, with about the same calories and sugar per 3.5 oz (100 g). The difference you can see is color. Orange cantaloupe flesh carries beta-carotene, about 2,780 mcg per 3.5 oz across eight USDA samples. We hold no matching figure for honeydew.

Cantaloupe potassium ran from 76 to 266 mg per 3.5 oz across those samples, so the higher figure for honeydew in the table sits inside that range.

The table cannot show safety. Cantaloupe was tied to illness in Salmonella outbreaks in Australia and the UK, and in a 2011 US Listeria outbreak linked to it, 33 of 147 patients died. Honeydew in a fruit salad, probably contaminated by an ill food handler, was the likely source of a 2007 Salmonella outbreak. CDC and FDA advice is the same for both. Scrub the rind with a clean produce brush, keep cut melon in the fridge at 40°F or below, and skip cut melon left out over 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F) or kept chilled over a week. It matters most if you are pregnant, 65 or older, or have a weakened immune system.

Choose by taste. If melon makes your mouth itch, tell a doctor. Of 53 adults reporting melon reactions, challenges confirmed allergy in 19, and two had life-threatening reactions.

Evidence behind this note

1. Level E Eight USDA reference samples of raw cantaloupe disagree by more than fivefold on vitamin C (3.9 to 18.4 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g)) and by thirteenfold on copper, while water content varies by only 3%. USDA FoodData Central, Foundation Foods, release 2026-04-30
2. Level C In the 2023 UK and Portugal outbreak investigation, eating cantaloupe raised the odds of Salmonella Saintpaul infection about 14-fold (adjusted odds ratio 14.22, 95% CI 2.83 to 71.43), and 46% of the 98 cases were children under 10. Epidemiol Infect, 2024
3. Level C An Australian outbreak in 2006 found the same pattern even more sharply: cantaloupe eaters had 24 times the odds of Salmonella Saintpaul illness (adjusted OR 23.9, 95% CI 5.1 to 112.4), and the outbreak strain was found on the skin of two melons from the implicated retailer. Epidemiol Infect, 2009
4. Level C In the same 2011 cantaloupe outbreak, 33 of 147 infected people died, which shows how severe Listeria from contaminated melon can be. New England Journal of Medicine, 2013 (McCollum et al., Multistate outbreak of listeriosis associated with cantaloupe)
5. Level C A 2007 Salmonella Litchfield outbreak of 30 cases at an Atlantic City hotel restaurant was most likely traced to the honeydew in a fruit salad, contaminated by an ill food handler. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep, 2008
6. Level E For cantaloupe and other melons, CDC Listeria advice says to avoid cut melon left out for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F, and cut melon kept in the refrigerator for more than a week, and to choose melon that has just been cut. CDC lists pregnant women, newborns, people 65 or older and people with a weakened immune system as at higher risk. CDC, Preventing Listeria Infection
7. Level E For cantaloupe, FDA advises scrubbing firm produce such as melons with a clean produce brush, buying pre-cut produce such as half a watermelon only if refrigerated or surrounded by ice, refrigerating all pre-cut or packaged produce, and storing perishable fruit at 40°F or below. FDA, Selecting and Serving Produce Safely
8. Level E For honeydew and other melons, CDC Listeria advice says to avoid cut melon left out for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F, and cut melon kept in the refrigerator for more than a week, and to choose melon that has just been cut. CDC lists pregnant women, newborns, people 65 or older and people with a weakened immune system as at higher risk. CDC, Preventing Listeria Infection
9. Level E For honeydew, FDA advises scrubbing firm produce such as melons with a clean produce brush, buying pre-cut produce such as half a watermelon only if refrigerated or surrounded by ice, refrigerating all pre-cut or packaged produce, and storing perishable fruit at 40°F or below. FDA, Selecting and Serving Produce Safely
10. Level C Of 53 adults reporting reactions to melon, double-blind food challenges confirmed melon allergy in 19 (36%), mostly oral allergy syndrome, with two life-threatening reactions. J Allergy Clin Immunol, 2000
11. Level C Across three US cohorts with 3.5 million person-years, cantaloupe was the one whole fruit that moved the wrong way for type 2 diabetes: hazard ratio 1.10 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.18) per three servings a week, against 0.74 for blueberries. BMJ, 2013

Written from the studies and agency guidance we hold for both foods, reviewed by the Bioma editorial system. How we verify.

Read more about these foods

• Cantaloupe: most of the evidence is about safety
• Honeydew melon: a watery fruit whose health trials tested a capsule

What the studies say

• Is cantaloupe safe during pregnancy? Usually, and the risk is Listeria

Rankings and guides

• Protein: what it does and how much you need
• Fiber: what it does and how much you need
• Which foods are highest in protein?
• Cantaloupe: full nutrition facts

More comparisons

• Cantaloupe vs watermelon

• Cantaloupe: USDA FoodData Central, Melons, cantaloupe, raw, FDC ID 746770 · full profile · all forms of cantaloupe
• Honeydew melon: USDA FoodData Central, Melons, honeydew, raw, FDC ID 2710816 · all forms of honeydew melon

Each food is one USDA entry, chosen as it is usually eaten. Other cuts, brands and preparations differ; the links show them. % DV uses FDA Daily Values for adults. How we verify.