Many of us have heard the word “salmonella” and it can be very alarming. In serious cases people get extremely ill and some die because of this bacteria. There are salmonella breakouts here and there ocassionally that we hear about on the news. Often it has to do with a poultry product or some other animal protein, but this latest case has to do with a food we would never think of as being dangerous, papayas, from Mexico.
One death and 109 infections have been the results so far from this deadly illness. In 16 states, 35 people have already been hospitalized. One of the things that make salmonella so scary is that you never know what food you purchase will be infected . You can’t look at a papaya or any fruit and tell if it has been affected by a salmonella outbreak.
The Center for Disease Control (the CDC), is taking this latest outbreak very seriously by demanding that restaurants not use these papayas, and markets not sell the Maradol papayas from Mexico. The Maradol papayas have green skin, that turns yellow once they begin to ripen more. Retailers are also blocked from selling these specific papayas.
In the last two weeks of this outbreak, the salmonella strain has affected over 16 states, mostly in the Northeast and a few Southern states and the midwest. So far, though the investigation is ongoing, the West Coast has not been affected. Carica de Campeche is the Mexican farm being investigated, so far 5 strains of salmonella have been discovered in that location. Since July 26th, the fruit has been recalled by the company who distributes it here in the States. Any papaya from Carica de Campeche has been pulled from the markets between july 10th and the 26th.
Other Mexican farms that grow papaya are now being investigated as a safety measure to see if these other farms were affected by the virus. The CDC is taking every precaution possible to make sure that all the affected papaya is off the market and out of the restaurants to keep consumers as safe as possible.
Source: Deadly Salmonella Outbreak