Mexico and the US investigate an outbreak of hepatitis in blueberries, strawberries and blackberries

“To date, no scientific evidence has been found to confirm the presence of hepatitis A in state production units,” Sader said.

According to research, outbreaks of type A hepatitis in the United States “have their origin in frozen strawberries.”

And although these types of products are not the responsibility of Senasica, to offer greater guarantees to consumers and business partners, the agency urged producers, packers, collectors and marketers of fresh vegetables in Mexico to implement the Pollution Risk Reduction Systems in its production processes “in order to offer greater safety guarantees to consumers and business partners”.

Senasica and the National Association of Berry Exporters (Aneberries) agreed on the integration of a technical working group, which “has the task of exploring areas of opportunity in the production processes and field packaging of Mexican strawberries”, to strengthen its safety.

Both parties agreed that the adoption of risk reduction systems represents an added value for Mexican fresh products, so they will work together so that more producers apply them and continuously strengthen producers, packers and marketers of strawberries, blueberries , blackberries and raspberries.

In Mexico there are more than 15,000 agricultural production units certified in pollution risk reduction systems, which impact an area of ​​almost 116,000 hectares.

They grow 82 species of vegetables, among which are: red fruits, avocado, tomato, chili, cucumber, onion, pepper, grape, lettuce, broccoli, papaya, melon, celery, mango, asparagus, corn, watermelon, pineapple , eggplant, lemon, cauliflower, walnut, spinach, beans, chives, and chickpeas.

With information from EFE