Tag Archives: Mexico

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Beltway Beat

USDA Resumes Inspections of Mexican Avocados and Mangoes destined for the United States

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Last week, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico said two employees of the U.S.D.A.’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service were assaulted and detained while traveling in the Mexican state of Michoacán, where they had been surveying orchards and packing plants. The employees were later released, but the episode led to a temporary halt of inspections of avocados and mangoes destined for the United States. A “satisfactory” proposal on worker safety allowed the inspectors to return to work, Ken Salazar, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, said last Monday.

Inspectors employed by a unit of the U.S.D.A. vet producers and packing plants in Mexico as part of a program designed to make sure orchards and other facilities that handle the crops are free of pests and comply with food safety standards.

According to the Embassy’s website, security incidents in Mexico have not been limited to the avocado program. In 2020, a USDA employee who carried out screening and eradication activities in support of fruit and pest and citrus disease programs in northern Mexico was killed. In the case of concern, an APHIS inspector questioned the integrity of a particular shipment, and refused to certify it on the basis of specific issues. The USDA inspector’s supervisor later received a telephone threat against him and his family.

Susanne Kuehne, Decernis
Food Fraud Quick Bites

No Celebration During These Days Of The Dead

By Susanne Kuehne
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Susanne Kuehne, Decernis
Food fraud
Find records of fraud such as those discussed in this column and more in the Food Fraud Database.
Image credit: Susanne Kuehne.

One of the worst suspected alcoholic beverage poisoning incidents has claimed dozens of lives in Mexico. A possible cause may be tainted liquor from illegal bootleg sources; the suspicion is pointing to methanol as a contaminant, which can lead to blindness and even death. Due to the coronavirus crisis, some Mexican states banned alcohol production and sales, which may have promoted the sales of illicit alcoholic beverages. An Euromonitor report mentions that about 25% of alcohol beverages in developing markets are illicit and may endanger consumers’ health and lives.

Resource

Taylor, P. (May 14, 2020). “Another illicit alcohol tragedy as dozens killed in Mexico”. Securing Industry.

GFSI and SENASICA

GFSI 2017: Working for International Partnerships and Global Harmonization

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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GFSI and SENASICA

There were several common threads during last week’s GFSI conference—collaboration to build stronger and more transparent food safety systems, international partnerships, and a global supply chain. This year’s event saw a record-breaking turnout, with nearly 1200 industry professionals from 54 countries in attendance.

GFSI and SENASICA
(left) Mike Robach, Vice President, Corporate Food Safety, Quality & Regulatory for Cargill, Inc. USA & Chair of the GFSI Board of Directors and (right) Hugo Fragoso of SENASICA

For the first time, GFSI entered into a public-private partnership with the Mexican National Service of Health, Food safety and Agro-Food Quality (SENASICA) that will help the entities to reach the goal of continuous improvement in food safety management systems. GFSI and SENASICA will sign a letter of intent this week in Mexico City. The partnership will focus on enabling private schemes to act under Mexican regulation (in addition to the Certification of the official scheme) to increase the amount of officially certified products. The two entities will also work together to enhance Mexico’s Global Markets Programme. The hope is that the partnership will be a model for other countries and will promote the adoption of third-party certification that facilitates the harmonization of food safety systems and global requirements.

Other highlights included a G30 summit held by 30 countries to talk about food safety and international harmonization; the work between GFSI and Certification Programme Owners to improve auditor performance; and the first GFSI award, which went to Champion Petfoods.

Food Safety Consortium

Moving Produce Rule Forward, United States and Mexico Partnership Critical

By Food Safety Tech Staff
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Food Safety Consortium

During an FDA Town Hall at the 2015 Food Safety Consortium, FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Watch video of Taylor’s speech: Part I and Part IIMedicine Michael Taylor was asked about implementation of the produce rule from the perspective of Mexico. Taylor touched on the partnership, announced about a year ago, between the United States and Mexico in recognition of the fact that working together will be the only way to move forward in verifying compliance with the new rule. “Our work with Mexico on produce safety is one of the most important things we’re doing right now in implementing FSMA,” said Taylor.