Today the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) added Indiana, New Mexico and the Mexican state of Baja California (Norte) to the list of tomato production areas not associated to the Salmonella saintpaul outbreak.

Baja California (Norte)

According to the protocol agreed upon between FDA and the government of Baja California (Norte) regarding Roma (Plum) or red round tomatoes from Baja California (Norte):

• Each lot will be accompanied by a certificate that verifies the product was grown and packed in the region after April 26 â€" sixteen days after the first illness date related to the outbreak.  
• Each shipment will be accompanied by a memo from the Baja California authorities and copies of all lot certificates

• Product can only enter the United States through Otay Mesa and Caliexico.  FDA will conduct its normal sampling and inspections on imports.
• Growers and packers cannot commingle tomatoes with tomatoes from any other regions
• Growers and packers must maintain records to show compliance with all aspects of the identification protocol and the state will conduct audits

The Secretaria de Fomento Agropecuario del Gobierno del Estado de Baja California intends to post information about this protocol on its website.  At the time of this memo, this notice had not yet been posted.

According to FDA, this protocol will only be in place until FDA’s outbreak investigation is completed.  

United Fresh

United Fresh continues to work with FDA to facilitate the traceback investigation and add applicable regions to the list of those not associated with the outbreak.  Until FDA announces that the outbreak is over, United Fresh encourages all buyers to offer Roma (Plum) and red round tomatoes from the production areas on FDA’s list.

If you have questions, please contact Senior Vice President of Food Safety & Technology Dr. David Gombas at 202-303-3411 or Vice President of Communications Amy Philpott at 202-303-3425.