Tainted Papaya Claims 106 Victims in 25 States On Monday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued their final update regarding the Salmonella Agona outbreak linked to consumption of papayas distributed by Agromod Produce, Inc. The final victim count stands at 106 individuals, with cases reported in 25 different states. The states [...]

FDA Places Ban on Untested Mexican Papayas The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced that it would refuse to accept papayas imported from Mexico into the United States.  The FDA will accept imported papayas from Mexico only if the importer shows that the produce is not contaminated with Salmonella bacteria.  Such proof [...]

Delay in Cargill Ground Turkey Recall Raises Questions The most recent outbreak of Salmonella Heidelberg contamination, which has led to at least 78 illnesses across 26 states, has led many to ask some important questions about food regulation and safety in the United States.  Perhaps the most common question asked by both media outlets and [...]

FDA Steps Up Papaya Surveillance in Wake of Salmonella Outbreak The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is stepping up its surveillance of Mexican papayas in the wake of a 23-state outbreak of Salmonella Agona linked to consumption of contaminated papayas imported from that country. The FDA warned importers through the US Customs and Border [...]

Texas Hit by Turkey and Papaya Recalls Texans have been besieged by two outbreaks of contaminated product-related foodborne illness in the past two weeks.  The state has a large number of confirmed cases in two large and ongoing nationwide Salmonella outbreaks, one tied to consumption of papaya contaminated with Salmonella Agona, and the other associated [...]

Salmonella-Linked Papaya Recall Spurs Houston Producer to Recall Fruit Medleys GHSW LLC, a Houston producer of fresh-cut fruit products, recalled a number of their papaya-based products amidst fears that the fruits might be contaminated with Salmonella Agona.  The company had procured the papaya from South Texas-based Agromod Produce, Inc., who on June 23 had recalled [...]

CDC Increases Victim Count in Papaya Salmonella Outbreak The US Center for Disease Control (“CDC”) had added two new victims to the list of those sickened with Salmonella Agona from contaminated papayas. The nationwide count of now sits at 99 victims in 23 states since January 1, 2011, distributed as follows: Texas (25), Illinois (17), [...]

Texas Has Most Victims in Papaya Salmonella Outbreak The recent nationwide Salmonella Agona outbreak linked to contaminated papayas has hit Texas hard.  Of the 97 confirmed victims in the United States, 25 reside in Texas – by far the most of any state.  This could be due to the fact that the papaya distributor – [...]

Agromod Produce, Inc. Issues Papaya Recall – 97 Illnesses in 23 states Agromod Produce, Inc., a McAllen, Texas papaya distributor, has issued a recall of all Blondie, Yaya, Mañanita, and Tastylicious Brand papayas sold prior to July 23, 2011 because those papayas have been linked to 97 salmonella illnesses (including 10 hospitalizations) in 23 states.  [...]

In the past 3 years, there have been several food-borne salmonella outbreaks in the United States.  More than half of those outbreaks were linked to the consumption of manufactured food such as peanut butter, pet food, or cereal.  Less than half of those outbreaks were related to fresh produce such as cantaloupes, tomatoes, peppers, and alfalfa [...]