The director of Mexico's Farm Food Quality Service, Enrique Sanchez, objected to the term ‘smoking gun’ used by a U.S. official for the salmonella sample in question. He said the sample was taken from a water tank that had not been used for more than two months to irrigate crops.
Sanchez said the U.S. officials ‘totally lacked scientific evidence’ to back their claim and accused them of breaching a confidentiality contract by announcing their findings before the completion of investigations.
"We're eating this same produce in Mexico and we haven't had any problems," Sanchez said. He even suggested the FDA officials had confused the source of the samples. He also expressed concern at the reverses caused to the industry by the FDA warning against the Mexican products.
Adding his bit, Miguel Angel Toscano of Mexico's Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks said that Mexican investigators had also taken soil, water, and vegetables samples that the FDA had tested and found salmonella in some of the samples taken in Tamaulipas. Toscano, however, added that more tests needed to be done to confirm the conclusions.
In a statement, Mexico's Agriculture Department said it ‘rejects’ the FDA's conclusion that the source of the salmonella outbreak was located in the Mexican farm's irrigation water.
“The farm unit in question ended its harvest more than a month ago, so the sample they say they have lacks scientific validity because the sample was taken recently from a tank holding rain water that was not used in production,” the department’s statement declared.
The statement categorically read, “The government reiterates its call for the FDA to use information responsibly and, above all, to base it on scientific evidence.”
The FDA had earlier issued a warning against consumption of raw Serrano as well as jalapeno peppers from Mexico. The warning also included in its ambit any food products containing these two peppers.
The FDA also had to face flak at a congressional hearing about the earlier FDA warning against tomatoes, linking them to the salmonella outbreak. Other complaints have also poured in against the FDA for the long-windedness of its proceedings.
The federal officials, however, maintained that they still could not rule out tomatoes completely, as the outbreak that has affected more than 1,300 people since April might have been set off by a composite set of contaminated produce.
Regarding the Mexican backlash, the FDA rejected the Mexican government's accusation that U.S. investigators had erred. “We are surprised and disappointed by the statements of the Mexican government. We are confident of our findings,” the FDA said in a statement.
Meanwhile, legislators are considering a range of reforms to prevent future outbreaks and speed their investigation.
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