US Considering Food Safety Office in Latin America

Avatar for Matt Hopkins By Andrea Klosterman Harris|30 June 2008

During a weeklong visit to Mexico and Central America, HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt announced that inspectors were working with Mexican investigators to inspect farms, distribution centers, and transportation methods. While the Salmonella outbreak put a temporary stop to tomato imports from Mexico, regulators have now cleared shipments from everywhere except the three suspect states.

Stating that inspecting produce at the border is no longer sufficient to insure food safety, Leavitt promoted a Latin American food safety office that would give inspectors access to the farms and facilities where food is produced and packed.

Citing another Salmonella incident earlier this year stemming from cantaloupes imported from Honduras, Leavitt said: “We’ve had two incidents in the last month and a half: the Honduran cantaloupe, and now the tomatoes. What it demonstrates is that when these incidents occur, we need a quick response.”