Tomatoes in The state of Baja California Mexico are certified safe

by patgarcia | June 15, 2008 at 04:25 pm | 306 views | 1 comment

Almost 35 thousand workers are hired just in Ensenada Baja California Sur. GETTY IMAGES

Tomatoe Farm Meliton Albañez. Worker's shacks.

Our tomatoes heve been certified clean. Tomatoe farms around the city had their production stopped, their economy was affected this past week. I didn't buy any tomatoes just in case but at the same time I knew we didn't have a salmonella outbreak in the city. I once had salmonellosis from contaminated cheese so I didn't want to take any chances.

The state of Baja California was the first area in Mexico to be certified safe, according to the Web site. Tomatoes grown there may be exported to the U.S. only if the state agriculture agency has inspected them. Mexico, which harvested 2.3 million metric tons of tomatoes in 2007, accounts for 84 percent of the tomatoes the U.S. imports.

Mexican and U.S. growers have complained that the government has moved too slowly to certify that produce from areas is safe. Sales of Mexican tomatoes in the U.S. have slowed, according to the country's agriculture ministry.

Mexican officials are scheduled to meet with the FDA tomorrow to discuss how they can speed the process to certify that Mexico was not the source of the contaminated tomatoes.