The United States and Canada are targeting Mexican melons following a salmonellosis outbreak that left eight people dead and more than 359 affected. Last Thursday, health authorities in the receiving countries traced the infection to the Malichita company, based in Guaymas, Sonora. The Agriculture Ministry of Mexico, the world's second-largest melon exporter, is investigating whether the bacteria came from the company's ejidos or whether the fruit may have been infected during the export process.
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) announced last Thursday that there have been 129 confirmed cases of salmonellosis due to melon consumption. “The majority of those affected are children under five years of age or adults over 65 years of age,” the federal agency argued. Five people have died from this outbreak and 44 have required hospitalization.
Canada has selected the agribusiness company Malichita, which has its offices and ejidos near the city of Guaymas in the southern state of Sonora. On its website, the company boasts that it has all health certifications from Mexican and American organizations. The focus is on the cantaloupe variety, which the company sells under two different labels in major supermarkets in Canada and the United States: Malichita and Rudy.
The PHAC asks the public to avoid melons from these brands that are still in circulation in grocery stores. “If you cannot check the brand of the melon, it is recommended to throw it away,” the agency said. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating an outbreak of salmonellosis also traced to melon consumption. The bacteria has caused 230 cases in Americans, resulting in 96 hospitalizations and three deaths.
In Mexico, the Ministry of Agriculture released a statement last Saturday saying that Malichita was carrying out controls to determine the route of its melons and that samples had been taken in the ejidos to find out if they were infected at the source. “The company has the necessary controls for the traceability of its operations, allowing to follow the trace of the melon from the production unit to its entry into the US territory, the point from which the product entered Canada” says the statement.
The salmonellosis outbreak could impact the Mexican melon business, especially the lowest link in the chain, farmers, as was the case with the cucumber crisis in Spain. After this country, Mexico is the second largest melon exporter in the world, a company that generated a profit of $331 million (around 5,766 million pesos) in 2021, according to the latest report from the Economic Complexity Observatory. Almost all sales are to Canada and the United States, which receive 99 out of 100 melons leaving Mexico.
The PHAC sounded the alarm back in early November about Malichita brand melons sold in Canada between October 11th and November 14th. At the end of the same month, the agency also pointed out the Rudy brand products marketed between October 10 and November 23. The hardest-hit province was Quebec with 91 cases. The products were also sold in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
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