By Andres R. Martinez
June 15 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration added New Mexico, Indiana and one Mexican state to its list of places that are cleared of being the source of an outbreak of salmonella from contaminated tomatoes that has sickened 228 people since April.
The FDA has now cleared 37 states, Puerto Rico and parts of Florida as the source of the outbreak, according to the Web site of the agency, based near Washington, D.C. Six countries, including Israel and Guatemala, have been cleared.
The state of Baja California was the first area in Mexico to be certified safe, according to the Web site. Tomatoes grown there may be exported to the U.S. only if the state agriculture agency has inspected them. Mexico, which harvested 2.3 million metric tons of tomatoes in 2007, accounts for 84 percent of the tomatoes the U.S. imports.
Mexican and U.S. growers have complained that the government has moved too slowly to certify that produce from areas is safe. Sales of Mexican tomatoes in the U.S. have slowed, according to the country's agriculture ministry.
Mexican officials are scheduled to meet with the FDA tomorrow to discuss how they can speed the process to certify that Mexico was not the source of the contaminated tomatoes.
New Mexico and Indiana are two of the 23 states in the U.S. where cases of salmonella have been reported. On June 13, the FDA said that nine people fell ill at two restaurants that were part of the same chain. The agency declined to name the chain or its locations.
To contact the reporter on this story: Andres R. Martinez in Mexico City at amartinez28@bloomberg.net
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