October 10, 2006

Mexico Bans U.S. Lettuce

Mexico has stopped allowing imports of lettuce from the United States, according to a statement from the Mexican secretary of health. Stores in Mexico also were asked to pull U.S. lettuce off their shelves.

The statement said the ban is in response to a recall by The Nunes Company, which recalled about 8,500 cartons of green leaf lettuce Oct. 8 after a secondary irrigation source tested positive for E. coli contamination.

“It’s an inappropriate response,” said Kathy Means, vice president of government relations for the Produce Marketing Association. “We do not understand. It’s not for health purposes.”

The FDA said Oct. 8 there was no public health risk from leafy green lettuce and commended The Nunes Company on its prompt action in issuing a voluntary recall. In addition, the lot codes of the recalled products are known and no tests on the lettuce have tested positive for E. coli.

There have been no confirmed findings of E. coli in lettuce shipped to Mexico or any illnesses associated with U.S. lettuce. The Mexican government claims the ban is a preventative measure, but gave no timetable for when the ban would be lifted other than to say until U.S. lettuce does not “represent some risk for the health of Mexicans.”

“The government of Mexico’s announcement to ban imports of all U.S. lettuce is surprising, since none of the recalled product was shipped to Mexico, 97 percent of the recalled product has already been confiscated, and the recall involved only green leaf lettuce sold under one brand harvested from one farm, shipped only from Oct. 3 through Oct. 6. This reaction is of great concern because it isn’t in line with the actual facts of the recall, and it is actually counterproductive to advancing food safety as it punishes responsible, preventative actions aimed at protecting public health,” said Tom Stenzel, president of United Fresh Produce Association.

United Fresh and PMA are working directly with the Mexican government and through the U.S. government to clarify the issue and will be updating their members on the situation as information becomes available.


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