The FDA has issued a ban on some select batches of cilantro imported from Mexico. Apparently, the food safety watchdog found traces of human faeces and related material within some batches.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a partial ban on batches of cilantro imported from select farms in and around Puebla, Mexico. Preliminary reports indicate the farms lacked basic human hygiene facilities like running water and toilets. This might have forced the workers to defecate in and around the farms. The FDA and health authorities claim to have discovered toilet paper and feces in the fields, which resulted in the issuance of the ban, reported MSN.
The FDA’s ban has come after a detailed investigation into the 2013 and 2014 outbreaks of stomach illness in the United States. The agency was able to link the outbreaks to cilantro imported from the state of Puebla. Annually recurring outbreaks of Cyclosporiasis had triggered the investigation. Cyclosporiasis is a non-fatal intestinal illness. It occurs when humans consume any food or drink that has been contaminated with faeces.
The partial ban will be in force from April through August, every year, till the companies that produce cilantro improve the living and working conditions of the workers, most primarily, offering them facilities to relieve themselves in specifically designated areas that aren’t near the fields, noted the FDA,
“Conditions observed at multiple such firms in the state of Puebla included human faeces and toilet paper found in growing fields and around facilities; 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; food-contact surfaces (such as plastic crates used to transport cilantro or tables where cilantro was cut and bundled) visibly dirty and not washed; and water used for purposes such as washing cilantro vulnerable to contamination from sewage/septic systems.”
Out of the 11 farms US and Mexican health authorities investigated, such unhygienic living and working conditions were found in eight of them, indicating a serious lapse of food safety protocols.
Surprisingly, while the ban is justified, some feel the situation isn’t much better back home. While it is expected to have facilities for the farm workers, most of the time; neither the field owners, nor the workers, mind relieving themselves out in the open, reported The Christian Science Monitor.
It is not immediately clear how soon the Mexican farms will take remedial action to lift the ban on cilantro imposed by FDA.
[Image Credit | John Moore / Getty Images]
FDA Cilantro Ban: The Import Of This Innocent Herb From Mexico Is Banned For A Very Gross And Concerning Reason is an article from: The Inquisitr News
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