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BY JESSICA SMITH

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Del Monte Foods is taking the FDA to court. The reason? The food production giant says the administration wrongly blamed the company for a Salmonella outbreak back in March. Here’s FOX 5, with details on what happened then.
 

“Del Monte Fresh Produce is recalling cantaloupes purchased at Costco for possible Salmonella contamination. The fruits were sold in beige, plastic sleeves, with three melons in each between March 10th and 21st.”


The recall pulled a third of Del Monte’s cantaloupes off shelves, but the company says the FDA didn’t do their homework.  Portland’s KOIN explains,


“Health officials, Del Monte says, did not investigate any other farmers of cantaloupe that could have caused the outbreak. At least 20 people in ten states were sick in that outbreak.”



In a statement, Del Monte said there’s no proof its cantaloupes were contaminated, and claims the FDA made an “erroneous speculation, unsupported by scientific evidence.”
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Food Safety News says the FDA never did find a genetic fingerprint linking Del Monte cantaloupes to the outbreak. But the food safety director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, says the FDA’s job is to look out for the consumers first--and that’s why it issued a recall.


“‘Del Monte appears to be asking for the almost impossible before the FDA can issue an alert,’ [the director says]. ‘The company wants the FDA to require a smoking gun, a positive genetic test, before taking action. That is unrealistic and puts a burden on investigators that is unmanageable.’”


Michael Doyle, Director for the Center of Food Safety at the University of Georgia tells The Packer this lawsuit could be a wake up call for public health officials.


“‘This lawsuit could do more harm than good, but it might make epidemiologists more cognizant of the fact that they’re responsible for not only public health, but economic consequences,’ Doyle said.”
 

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