FDA Bans Mexican Papayas Due to High Salmonella Percentage

Posted on August 26, 2011

News sources reported that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shut the American border to Mexican papayas Thursday because 15.6 percent of the imported fruit was found to be positive for Salmonella between May 12 and August 18.

According to the FDA, the samples that tested positive were taken from 28 separate firms from nearly all major papaya producing regions in Mexico. This imports alert’s denying admission of Mexican papayas in the US means that importers with have to prove that their product isn’t contaminated with Salmonella. This alert and ban come in the wake of reports from multiple states that over 100 people in the US were infected with Salmonella Agona. The Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified Mexican papayas from one importer to be the likely source of the pathogen.

The agency’s import alert announcing the ban stated, “Using the information provided by the cases, trace-backs were conducted in multiple states. FDA also collected samples of papaya to test for the outbreak strain. Based on information from the outbreak investigation, the outbreak has been associated with papaya from at least one grower and its shipper in Mexico.”

As a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer, I’m happy to learn that the agency is taking steps to ensure the food safety of our nation. If you’ve been injured through the consumption of a contaminated food product, it may be in your best interests to speak with a product defect lawyer.

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