Several people sick; Mexican mangoes sold in Canada may contain Salmonella Braenderup

Posted on August 24, 2012 by Douglas Powell

I don’t like mangoes. I’ve tried because they grow in trees on front lawns in Brisbane, but the flesh is too pulpy; makes an excellent juice though.

For those Canadians living tropical fantasies for the last days of summer, beware those mangoes from Mexico.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and North American Produce Sales are warning the public not to consume the mangoes described below because they may be contaminated with Salmonella Braenderup bacteria.

The affected Mangoes, product of Mexico, were sold as individual fruit with a sticker bearing PLU# 4959 and other information. These mangoes were sold at various retail stores between July 12 and August 14, 2012. Consumers are advised to contact the retailer to find out if you have the affected mangoes. If you have illness symptoms or any health concerns possibly associated with these mangoes, please contact your family doctor.

These mangoes may have been distributed in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon.

There have been several confirmed illnesses associated with the consumption of these mangoes.

Political rally in Mexico ends with 650 barfing

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Douglas Powell

Officials of a Mexican political party are apologizing to 650 indigenous people who suffered food poisoning after attending a campaign rally in southern Mexico.

Authorities in the indigenous town of Chilapa had to open an auditorium on Wednesday to treat people who became sick after eating rice tacos and eggs handed out by former mayor Sergio Dolores, who is running for congress.

Guerrero state civil protection officials said adults and children were fainting, throwing up and suffering from diarrhea.

Meat on steroids, not players; Contador rejoices; doping case dropped against Mexico soccer players

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Douglas Powell

Five Mexican soccer players who tested positive for clenbuterol before the Gold Cup will not face sanctions after FIFA determined the tests were caused by contaminated meat.

The World Anti-Doping Agency said Wednesday it had dropped its appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, where it planned to challenge a Mexico Football Federation decision clearing the players of doping.

WADA said it accepted FIFA’s "compelling evidence" from the recent Under-17 World Cup in Mexico that the country has a "serious health problem" with meat contaminated with clenbuterol.

WADA said Mexico’s government has agreed to address the issue of farmers giving steroids to livestock, which is illegal.

"Already several arrests have been made pursuant to these laws and large amounts of clenbuterol seized. Investigations are to continue," WADA said.

German table tennis player Dimitrij Ovtcharov tested positive after competing in China, which also has long-standing issues with illegally feeding steroids to livestock.

Three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador will use the same argument as part of his defense at CAS next month.

Contador’s four-day hearing is scheduled to begin Nov. 21.

That’s a lot of salmonella; 15% of Mexican papayas salmonella-positive

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Douglas Powell

U.S. and Mexican officials have been working closely together to find the source or sources of contamination of Salmonella in fresh papayas entering the U.S. from Mexico. From May 12, 2011, to August 18, 2011, FDA analysis found a 15.6 percent Salmonella contamination rate. The positive samples were from 28 different firms and include nearly all the major papaya producing regions in Mexico.

Papayas from Mexico have been linked to approximately 100 cases of Salmonella Agona in 23 U.S. states.

Under a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Import Alert issued today, papayas from each source in Mexico may be denied admission into the United States unless the importer shows they are not contaminated with Salmonella, such as by using private laboratories to test the papayas. FDA may consider five consecutive commercial shipments over a period of time, analyzed from a validated laboratory, as being adequate for removal from the Import Alert.

Simultaneously, FDA and Mexican officials are stepping up their joint effort to trace recent contamination incidents back to their source and discover their cause or causes, in order to inform future prevention strategies. FDA and Mexican officials also are collaborating on laboratory methodologies used in Mexico for testing fresh papayas for Salmonella.

Beyond these immediate steps, the Mexican government and papaya industry have agreed to a longer range action plan that will define proper food safety procedures throughout the chain of production and distribution in Mexico and verify that the procedures are working effectively through product testing and other government oversight. Mexican officials are overseeing the industry’s implementation of the action plan and the FDA is collaborating with the Mexican government in this effort.

Papaya grown in Mexico sickens 97 with salmonella

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Douglas Powell

Agromod Produce, Inc. of McAllen, Texas is recalling all papayas, because they have the potential to be contaminated with salmonella.

According to a company press release, the papayas were imported from Mexico and are possibly linked to 97 reported cases of Salmonella Agona, including 10 hospitalizations, in 23 states throughout the U.S.

Recent sampling by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found the outbreak strain in two papaya samples collected at Agromod Produce, Inc. location in McAllen, TX and at the U.S. border destined for Agromod Produce, Inc.

The shipments that tested positive with the outbreak strain were not distributed in the U.S. Distribution of the product has been suspended while FDA and the company continue their investigation as to the source of the problem.

Whole Papayas were distributed nationwide and to Canada through retail stores and wholesalers.?? Agromod is recalling all Blondie, Yaya, Mañanita, and Tastylicious Brand papayas sold prior to July 23, 2011. Each Blondie Brand papaya can be identified by a blue and orange sticker label with green and white lettering on the fruit that states Blondie 4395 Mexico.

The Yaya Brand Papayas can be identified by a yellow, red, orange, and green label with white, green and red lettering that reads Yaya Premium Papayas Yaya PLU-4395 Mexico. Each Mañanita Brand Papaya can be identified by a green, yellow and red sticker label that states Mexico Mañanita 4395. The Tastylicious Brand Papayas can be identified by a white and blue sticker with red and white lettering that states 4395 Tastylicious MEXICO.??

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a similar health hazard alert.

Déjà vu – five Mexican players test positive for clenbuterol

Posted on July 2, 2011 by Douglas Powell

A month ago five Mexican players were sent home before the start of Gold Cup for testing positive for trace levels of clenbuterol, a prohibited anabolic substance.

Friday, four more players tested positive for the same substance. Health officials insisted Mexican beef doesn’t contain clenbuterol and that the incidence of contaminated beef is one in a million. They are either lying, or the Mexican soccer team is the unluckiest group of people ever. Once again, we’ll have to wait for the official investigation to be over.

Reminds me of a CSNY song.

Cyclist positive for clenbuterol, claims contamination

Posted on January 18, 2011 by Douglas Powell

Another cyclist has been caught eating at the Mark McGwire café and another is blaming Mexican meat for testing positive for clenbuterol.

The Danish cycling federation Tuesday revealed that Philip Nielsen, 23 (right, exactly as shown), of the continental Concordia team, tested positive for clenbuterol during the 2010 Vuelta a Mexico.

Nielsen won stage 8 of the Mexican tour in April and both A and B samples have come back positive. His case now is making its way through the Danish disciplinary process.

Nielsen claims he was not doping, but did offer an excuse of how the banned product found its way into his system.

Italian Alessandro Colo also tested positive, but he claimed that his test was triggered by eating contaminated meat in Mexico.

The Nielsen case comes as Spanish officials consider what to do with Alberto ~~douchebag~~ Contador (left), who is facing a two-year ban and disqualification of his Tour de France crown after he tested positive for the substance en route to winning last year’s Tour.

Man detained at Mexican airport found with 18 baby monkeys taped to body

Posted on July 20, 2010 by Douglas Powell

Customs officials (left, not exactly as shown) at Mexico City’s airport detained a Peruvian man (right, not exactly as shown) carrying 18 baby monkeys, including two which had died, hidden under his clothes, federal police said.

"The Titi monkeys were found hidden in a band tied around the man’s body," a statement said.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports the discovery was made when the 38-year-old man appeared edgy during random checks on passengers off a flight from Lima, Peru, it said.

Titi monkeys — found in Central and South America — are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Reasons not to buy seafood or cheese from a van down by the river

Posted on March 6, 2010 by Douglas Powell

U. S. Customs and Border Protection officers stopped more than 100 pounds of soft Mexican cheese or queso fresco, hidden in false compartments of a vehicle trying to enter the United States across the Bridge of the Americas on Wednesday.

Associated Press notes federal officials permit travelers to import personal quantities of cheese — about 11 pounds per person.

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