U.S. Wants to Open FDA Office in Latin America
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said United States wants to open an office in Latin America to better monitor food safety, according to a report by the Associated Press.
Leavitt's comments came as U.S. inspectors scoured Mexican farms and distribution centers to determine if the recent U.S. salmonella outbreak originated in Mexico or Florida. U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigators, along with Mexican inspectors, are focusing on three states in Mexico -- Jalisco, Sinaloa and Coahuila.
Although FDA is still looking at tomatoes from central and southern Florid, the agency would not disclose the exactly which sites being inspected.
The salmonella outbreak, which has sickened more than 500 people in the U.S., halted almost all Mexican tomato exports to the U.S.
Recently, however, FDA Inspectors cleared tomato exports from all but the three states that are being further investigated. Most tomatoes during this time of year come from Baja California.
Leavitt said the main goal of the planned FDA office would be to ensure that food and other products from Latin America are safe for consumption or use. He added that no agreement formal agreement and location in Latin America has been determined yet.
The FDA recently reached an agreement to open three similar offices in China, and is eying India for another location.
"We've had two incidents in the last month and a half: the Honduran cantaloupe, and now the tomatoes," Leavitt told the Associated Press, referring to a March FDA warning against cantaloupes implicated in a previous salmonella outbreak. "What it demonstrates is that when these incidents occur, we need a quick response."