Salmonella outbreak traps tomatoes in Mexico
Pastor Dale Morgan
Salmonella outbreak traps tomatoes in Mexico*
By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ,
Associated Press Writer AP - Friday, June 13
MEXICO CITY - Export-quality tomatoes labeled "Ready to Eat" in English
flooded Mexico City markets on Thursday after a salmonella scare in the
U.S. trapped them south of the border.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned consumers against three
types of raw tomatoes that have sickened 167 people in 17 states since
mid-April. It has not pinpointed the outbreak's source, but cleared
imports from six countries _ though not from Mexico, which supplies 80
percent of tomatoes imported into the U.S.
Tomatoes from several counties in Florida are also under suspicion, the
FDA said.
Mexican growers and government officials called the warning unjust,
noting it has brought exports to a halt and could cripple Mexico's $1
billion tomato industry. The U.S. has no proof that any contaminated
tomatoes were from Mexico, they say.
"What we hope is that they finish their investigation soon" and clear
the Mexican fruit, Agriculture Secretary Alberto Cardenas said Thursday.
"Mexican tomatoes are clean."
A delegation of Mexican officials flew to Washington D.C. on Thursday to
help the FDA find the source of the outbreak, Cardenas added.
Mexican tomato growers say their produce is subject to double the
scrutiny that U.S. tomatoes face: inspected first by Mexican officials
and then again at the border when crossing into the U.S.
But some U.S. consumers already associate the outbreak with Mexican
produce, and stopped buying the fruit this week.
"We can't sell a single box of tomatoes," said Jesus Macias, sales
manager at the Productora Agricola Industrial del Noreste, a tomato
grower that normally ships 50,000 boxes of tomatoes a day to an importer
in Chula Vista, California.
Instead, he now sends his top quality tomatoes to markets around Mexico
where they sell for a third the U.S. price. He leaves lesser-quality
produce, normally sold in Mexico, to rot.
At the capital's bustling central food market, truckloads of tomatoes
are now arriving in boxes originally meant for the U.S. "Sweet treat.
Premium quality," says lettering in English _ wording lost on most
Mexican Spanish speakers.
The top quality tomatoes now sell for 35 cents a pound (8 pesos per
kilogram) in the capital _ a third below normal prices.
Most customers don't know about the U.S. salmonella scare, and those who
do, don't seem alarmed. Some shoppers said they've always been more
careful than Americans in preparing produce _ they have to be, because
vegetables sold in Mexico are not held to the same standards as those
certified for export.
"What ends up here is second-rate," said Sergio Martinez, a 40-year-old
bricklayer who bought 4 1/2 pounds of tomatoes at the central market
Thursday.
"Almost all vegetables are contaminated with something because they
water them with sewer water and put on a lot of chemicals," he said,
noting that he washes all his produce with bleach and water.
About 120,000 people were sickened by salmonella in Mexico last year,
according to Mexican health authorities _ three times the average 40,000
cases reported in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
Still, Mexican growers certified by the FDA to send their tomatoes to
the U.S. must meet the same requirements as U.S. farmers. Their fields
are irrigated with fresh water, workers at packing plants wear
head-to-toe sterile clothing, and inspectors follow the fruit from field
to truck.
"The gringos are really demanding about quality," said Ricardo Montiel,
41, who was selling tomatoes, apples and avocados from his stand in
Mexico City's largest food market.
"But the problem didn't originate here. It is as easy as looking around
and seeing that people haven't gotten sick."