On Saturday night the U.S. FDA released notice detailing a voluntary recall of 4 brands of papayas from Agromod Produce Inc. of McAllen TX. Agramod unfortunately doesn’t have much food safety info on their website (or any mention of the recall at all). Not sure whether the papayas have been distriubuted through just retail outlets but Agramod says that they also sell their brands at wholesale and food service.

FDA has updated their original press release with logos and what consumers can do:

Consumers should examine fresh papayas for Agromod brand stickers identified below and in the firm’s press release. Consumers who have purchased papayas are also advised to check with the retailer to see if the papayas they purchased are among those affected, or throw the product away. Consumers, retailers and others who have papayas from Agromod Produce, Inc. should throw them away in a sealed container so people and animals, including wild animals, cannot eat them.

Although there isn’t much yet available on an outbreak investigation (and what practices/papaya preparation were linked to the illnesses – fresh cut, whole or juice) papaya has been shown in the literature to support the growth of certain Salmonella types (almost 2-log increase when inoculated and held between 75F and 80F for 6hrs).

There have been at least two other papaya-linked outbreaks reported by health officials: One in the mid-90s in Singapore and in 2006-07 in Australia. In the Australian outbreak, investigators pointed to untreated river water (which tested positive for the outbreak strain) used for wash water prior to sale.

Thanks to friends of barfblog Laura Strawn and Michelle Danyluk for thier review on tropical fruit food safety for the above refs.

Below is the latest food safety infosheet which focuses on this outbreak.