FDA bans some Mexican cilantro after feces found in fields

These fields didn’t just have human feces and toilet paper-according to the report, there were all kinds of unsanitary conditions, including “inadequately maintained and supplied toilet and hand washing facilities (no soap, no toilet paper, no running water, no paper towels) or a complete lack of toilet and hand washing facilities”, and unwashed surfaces where the cilantro was either being cut or transported.

The real challenge, though, is for FDA and its counterparts around the world to stop food from being contaminated, and consumers from becoming ill, in the first place.

205 cases of cyclosporiasis have been reported statewide, including more than 40 in North Texas.

To identify the source of the outbreak, the FDA and Mexican regulatory officials investigated farms and packing houses in Puebla and other areas of Mexico to observe conditions and practices that may have led to contamination of the cilantro.

DSHS warns washing produce may not entirely eliminate the risk because cyclospora can be hard to wash off. Cooking will kill the parasite.

The FDA and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have linked Pueblan cilantro with outbreaks of cyclosporiasis dating back to 2012. The illness, an intestinal infection brought on by microscopic parasites, is often caused by fecal contamination and causes diarrhea. The ban will prevent tall shipments from April through August in the years until farms in the region show significant improvement in their facilities.

State health officials in Texas and Wisconsin linked multiple outbreak clusters in their states this year and the previous three years to cilantro from Puebla, Mexico, through traceback efforts, according to the FDA. In addition, at one such firm, water in a holding tank used to provide water to employees to wash their hands at the bathrooms was found to be positive for C. cayetanensis. It is therefore subject to refusal of admission under Section 801(a)(3) of the Act.