Salmonella outbreak leaves Mexico in red
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Salmonella outbreak leaves Mexico in red*
* Olga Rodriguez, Associated Press, in Mexico City
* The Guardian,
* Friday June 13 2008
Mexico City markets were flooded with export-quality tomatoes yesterday
after a salmonella scare in the US stopped them crossing the border.
There is no proof that the contaminated tomatoes in the US came from
Mexico. The US Food and Drug Administration is still tracing the source
of the outbreak that has left at least 167 people ill since mid-April.
The FDA has cleared imports from at least six countries but not Mexico,
which sends 80% of its tomato exports to the United States. Florida
tomatoes are also under suspicion. But some US consumers already
associate the outbreak with Mexican produce, and exports from Baja
California came to a halt this week.
Jesus Macias, the sales manager at the Productora Agricola Industrial
del Noreste, normally ships 50,000 boxes a day to California. Since the
scare, "we can't sell a single box of tomatoes", he said. Instead, he is
shipping his top quality tomatoes to Mexican markets, and letting the
lesser-quality produce rot.
In Mexico City consumers can now buy top quality tomatoes for a third
less than normal prices.
Mexican officials insist there's nothing to worry about. "The Mexican
tomato is safer and cleaner than ever," the agriculture secretary,
Alberto Cárdenas, told Televisa network yesterday. Even US officials
agree that certified Mexican exporters are among the safest in the
world. Vegetables sold on the national market are not subject to the
same standards.