Mexican Lettuce Not to Blame for US Salmonella Outbreak, Cofepris Says

Mexico City — Mexico’s federal health regulator has rejected claims that lettuce or other agricultural products from Mexico caused recent outbreaks of salmonella and cyclospora infections in the United States, saying U.S. investigators found no conclusive evidence linking Mexican produce to the cases.

The Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris), an agency of Mexico’s Health Secretariat, said in a statement that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded its investigations without identifying Salmonella Javiana in any of the environmental samples collected during the probe.

“The FDA itself states in its final report that all of these samples were negative and acknowledges that it was not possible to determine the route or the source of contamination in the outbreak. The investigation has been declared concluded,” Cofepris said. The agency noted that Mexico “maintained permanent and transparent collaboration with U.S. health authorities” throughout the process.

Findings on Cyclospora ‘Not Conclusive’

Regarding Cyclospora cayetanensis, Cofepris said the FDA reported two positive results in environmental samples taken in Mexico — one from wastewater leaving a processing plant and another from a drainage ditch at a production unit.

However, the Mexican agency said, “the U.S. authority itself establishes that there is currently insufficient evidence to conclusively determine how the contamination that caused the outbreak occurred.”

Cofepris stressed that “environmental findings do not by themselves constitute conclusive evidence that agricultural products were the source of contamination.” It added that earlier analyses by its National Reference Laboratory of raw material, finished product and water samples from the plant under investigation all tested negative for Cyclospora cayetanensis.

Based on those results, the agency concluded that “the information available at the close of both investigations does not allow it to establish, through conclusive analytical evidence, that Mexican products were the origin of the outbreaks.”