FDA bans cilantro after human feces found in field

FDA bans cilantro after human feces found in field

Human feces was discovered in a cultivated field in Mexico along with other suspected details of contamination.

The Food and Drug Administration is restricting imports of cilantro from Puebla, Mexico after an official investigation discovered human feces and toilet paper in the growing fields according to The Californian report.

The state of Puebla had previous outbreaks of stomach illnesses in the United States in 2013 and 2014. Health officials in Texas and Washington also claim that cilantro from the same region is responsible for related illnesses this year.

Taking action on the previous outbreaks, U.S. and Mexican health authorities looked into 11 farms and packing houses in Puebla over the course of the three years. The FDA found “objectionable conditions” at eight specific farms, including five that were corollated with the U.S. contagions. The FDA said authorities found the feces and toilet paper in the fields and that some farms didn’t provide running water or facilities.

Cilantro was also found to be stored in unsavory containers, and at one particular firm, water was tested positive for a certain parasite, cyclospora, which lead to the spread of the illness.

The FDA issued an “import alert” statement on Monday, detailing their suspicions that the contamination came from “contact with the parasite shed from the intestinal tract of humans” in the cultivated fields, spoiled water or harvesting, or processing and packaging actions.

However, the ban will regulate shipments of cilantro from the area April through August, aligning with the outbreak’s timeframe. But the summer ban will remain indefinite unless a company show health officials that there’s no threat.

 

 

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