Should we be surprised?

How do you evaluate the FDA's recent handling of the case of Honduras cantaloupe imports? Considering the fact that 14 people were hospitalized, I don't think you can characterize the agency's actions as anything but appropriate. As painful as it is, the action against one Honduras firm is more targeted than in 2002, when FDA's moved broadly against Mexican cantaloupe imports.

Here is a story from November 2002 about the FDA's countrywide alert for Mexican cantaloupes:


FDA blocks imports of Mexican cantaloupes
By Tom Karst, National Editor
In a hard-line move that could have marketplace repercussions for weeks and perhaps months, the Food and Drug Administration on Oct. 28 issued a countrywide alert for Mexican cantaloupes, effectively stopping all imports of the fruit until the FDA clears individual Mexican shipper.
The action was not in response to a food safety scare.
Instead, the dramatic and controversial move relates to Salmonella outbreaks during 2000, 2001 and earlier this year that were traced to Mexican cantaloupe.
Two deaths and 18 hospitalizations were linked to a 2001 outbreak in California that was traced to Mexican fruit, the FDA said.
In its long-anticipated decision, the agency said it issued the import alert on a nationwide basis, rather than limit the scrutiny to a particular region. The action resulted in an immediate stop to all cantaloupe imports from Mexico, which were just beginning.
According to the FDA's import alert document, the agency's product tracing investigations implicated Mexican cantaloupes from the states of Michoacan and Guerrero as the source of four outbreaks. However, the FDA said it issued a countrywide alert because of positive results from salmonella testing of cantaloupe from other producing states during random sampling in 1999, 2000 and 2001.
The agency also said it felt the alert was necessary because of the industry practice of commingling melons from various states for shipment to the U.S.
Matt McInerney, executive vice president of Western Growers, Newport Beach, Calif., said the FDA move was encouraging.
"We think it is a great sign by the FDA to be proactive on the issue of salmonella on Mexican cantaloupe," he said.
He said the FDA rules will provide incentive to Mexican growers to validate their safety practices but won't prevent the vast majority from supplying the U.S. market.
Unfairly penalized? Enrique Lobo, minister for agricultural affairs at the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C., said the action penalizes many companies that have never been associated with a food safety incident. In an Oct. 30 news release, Lobo said the incident has "seriously threatened" the U.S.-Mexico working relationship.
Despite cooperative agreements with the USDA and Health and Human Services Department, Lobo said Mexico was given only a few hours' notice before the ban.
Noting that Mexico was considering its options under the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization, Lobo said Mexican growers were being unfairly discriminated against.
Stephen Martori, president of Martori Farms, Scottsdale, Ariz., said the FDA action will have long-term benefit.
"I'm just very disappointed it couldn't have been handled a couple of years ago and that Mexico would have chosen the route the U.S. has and complied with food safety concerns on a voluntary basis," he said. "I think the position from the domestic producers is certainly we cannot sustain another outbreak and whatever measures have to be taken have to be taken."
Martori, who doesn't import cantaloupe from Mexico, but does from Guatemala and Honduras, predicted adequate cantaloupe supply until late November, when supply from Hermosillo comes on.
It is uncertain when Mexican suppliers will be back in the U.S. market.
A meeting of Mexican cantaloupe shippers and growers in Nogales, Ariz., Oct. 30 helped detail measures shippers can take to be removed from the "detain without physical examination" list. About 100 Mexican shippers export cantaloupes to the U.S., said Lee Frankel, president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, Nogales.
The FDA said Mexican firms can be removed from the list after sending information supporting the adequacy of a firm's procedures relating to water quality, manure use and biosolids, worker health and hygiene, sanitary facilities and other issues relating to equipment and transportation.The FDA said it will give priority to scheduling inspections to firms and growers who provide certification from a third-party auditor with experience in agricultural or transportation processes.
A big concern, Frankel said, is how long Mexican growers and shippers will have to wait on the FDA for clearance. Some Mexican shippers may submit information on their operations to the FDA by early November.
Hank Giclas, Western Growers' vice president of science and technology affairs, said the FDA and Mexico are collaborating on a certification program with Mexican growers that would allow growers to document their use of good agricultural practices.
Because the FDA had all available information in July, Frankel said it was disappointing that the agency's policy was not issued until late October, just when early Mexican cantaloupe shipments from Sonora were set to cross.


TK: Meanwhile, here is news that U.S. inspectors are headed to Honduras to inspect the farm and facilities at Agropecuaria Montelibano.
The FDA's action has impacted all of Honduras melon producers - and indeed the cloud over cantaloupes could potentially harm U.S. producers as well. This is not an import versus domestic issue, although it is true that the FDA doesn't seem to have the same controls in place for U.S. production. The track record of traceback investigations doesn't necessarily speak to a quick resolution, but the entire industry will only suffer if episode is protracted.


From the AP:

The Bush administration assured Honduran officials Thursday it would act quickly to inspect the cantaloupe growing and packing facilities that exported melons linked to dozens of cases of salmonella in 16 states. The Food and Drug Administration blocked imports of cantaloupes from Honduras-based Agropecuaria Montelibano after the illnesses were reported. No deaths were reported, but 14 people were hospitalized. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt and other U.S. officials met with their counterparts from Honduras, who urged creation of a joint task force to inspect the facilities."I committed to them we will have people on the ground tomorrow," Leavitt said in an interview.He said a team from the Centers for Disease Control and the FDA had been sent. "Their concern is we act as expeditiously as good science will allow," he said.