A Salmonella outbreak linked mangoes imported from Mexico was the third largest multi-state food poisoning outbreak of 2012, based on the total number of people sickened. The outbreak, which was announced in August, sickened 127 people in 15 states.
The mangoes were distributed throughout the US and Canada and sold at various retail stores. On August 29, 2012, Splendid Products of Burlingame, Calif., the US distributor, issued a recall for Daniella brand mangoes with the PLU numbers: 3114, 4051, 4311, 4584 or 4959. The recalled mangoes were sold at various retail stores throughout the U.S.
Two weeks after the recall, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) put the Mexican supplier of the mangoes, Argicola Daniella of Sinloa, Mexico on import alert, meaning the company’s mangoes would be denied admission to the US unless the company could show proof from independent lab tests that they are not contaminated with Salmonella.
The government of Mexico responded to the import alert by saying there was no proof of contamination anywhere on the premises of Daniella company. And that the company was, therefore, not responsible for the outbreak. The Mexican government also denied that papayas from that country were the source of a 2011 Salmonella outbreak in the US.
At the end of September, three other distributors Coast Citrus Distributors, Inc. of San Diego; Food Source Inc. of Edinburg, Texas; and GM Produce Sales of Hidalgo, Texas; issued recalls at the end of September prompting additional recalls from various retailers. Thirty three of the 127 people sickened in the outbreak were hospitalized. The case patients ranged in age from less than 1 to 86 years old. The median age of 33 and more than half, 56 percent, of those sickened were female. By state, the case count was as follows: California (99), Delaware (1), Hawaii (4), Idaho (1), Illinois (2), Maine (1), Michigan (1), Montana (1), Nebraska (1), New Jersey (1), New York (3), Oregon (1), Texas (2), Washington (8), and Wisconsin (1).
There was also a cluster of 16 cases of Salmonella Worthington in three states. The case patients also reported eating mangoes prior to becoming ill. However, the outbreak strain was never isolated during lab testing of mangoes and a traceback investigation was not conducted to determine the source of the mangoes. By state those cases were as follows:California (12), New Mexico (1), and Washington (3).
