Salmonella ‘smoking gun’ found on Mexican farm

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A strain of the salmonella bacteria that sickened more than 1,300 people has been found in a serrano pepper and a sample of irrigation water at a farm in Mexico, U.S. health officials said Wednesday, writes Tiffany Hsu.

They called the discovery a ‘breakthrough’ but cautioned that tomatoes may still be a culprit in the nearly four-month outbreak that has alarmed consumers and cost the domestic produce industry hundreds of millions of dollars.

Mexicans are dubious of the latest pronouncement by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In an article in today’s national daily El Universal, Enrique Sanchez Cruz, director of the Mexican agricultural sanitation agency known as Senasica, said that testing procedures used by FDA officials in Mexico have been ‘inconsistent’ and ‘have no scientific support.’

The FDA’s previous warnings about Mexican tomatoes -- which so far have proven unfounded -- have resulted in huge financial losses for Mexican producers.

Read Tiffany Hsu’s full report, ‘Salmonella ‘smoking gun’ found on Mexican farm.’

Read more about the salmonella outbreak here.

For the Mexican take on the FDA’s findings, click here.