143 sickened; ‘PLUs were a mess’ mango board pledges improvements

With at least 143 Americans and Canadians sickened with Salmonella Braenderup linked to mangoes from Agricola Daniella of Sinaloa, Mexico, this fall, the National Mango Board decided it might be an apt time to review good agricultural practices (GAPs).

The Packer reports William Watson, executive director of the National Mango Board, told Fresh Summit 2012 attendees the board has undertaken a risk assessment in mango producing nations of Mexico, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Guatemala and the U.S. A scientific advisory board is being formed to review findings of the risk assessment and develop good agricultural practices – especially for post-harvest operations.

Watson reminded the mango producers and importers that the commodity board’s activities are limited by federal law. He said the board is working with the Food and Drug Administration to develop the GAPs, which should be available to the industry by winter 2013.

“I know now that there are things I would have done differently,” Watson said. “We could have been two or three days faster getting information out. The PLUs were a mess.”

Many consumers and mainstream news reporters were confused about the price lookup codes listed initially by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency early in the recall. The mango board issued statements explaining that the PLUs relate to varieties and sizes of mangoes and not specific brands, but media reports had already done the damage.

Going public: Mexican mangoes, first fingered in Canada, now linked to at least 79 illness in US

How do health agencies decide when to go public with information about an outbreak of foodborne illness that makes a lot of people barf?

There’s at least 73 people in California who would probably like to know after being sickened with Salmonella Braenderup, the same strain that Canadian health types revealed had sickened 22 people on Saturday.

California, you got beat by Canada in going public? This isn’t hockey, it’s public health, but adds to the embarrassing and accumulating record of silence on produce–related outbreaks.

And it doesn’t help when the story is broken by the USA Today; were you really just waiting around for someone to ask?

Daniella-brand mangoes imported from Mexico are being withdrawn from sale in the United States because of a possible link to salmonella. Splendid Products of Burlingame, Calif, which distributes the fruit, issued the voluntary recall Monday "out of an abundance of caution," says general manager Larry Nienkerk.

Or an abundance of people barfing.

Washington state has had six cases of salmonella that match the genetic fingerprint of the Canadian cases but has not yet linked them directly to the Mexican mangoes, says Donn Moyer of the Washington State Department of Health in Olympia. "We’re still looking into it."

Yes, there are always uncertainties involved; which would be much more understandable if every agency would make clear the criteria they use for when or when not to inform the public about a lot of barf.