It’s a challenging time right now to be a cantaloupe grower-shipper and those moving non-Mexican cantaloupe are particularly frustrated. “This recall has negatively impacted the entire melon industry no matter where they are from,” says Tom Ferguson, vice-president of sales at Classic Fruit Company.
This frustration stems from the voluntary recall of fresh cantaloupes on November 8, 2023 due to a salmonella outbreak in early November. Sofia Produce LLC dba Trufresh recalled cantaloupe grown in Mexico and packed under the Malichita and Rudy brands which shipped from Nogales, Arizona mid-October through early November. To date, infections across Canada have reached more than 120 people (with five deaths reported) and in the U.S., 230 people have fallen ill and that’s including three deaths reported.
For cantaloupe importers from other countries such as Guatemala, there’s great concern about the category at the moment. “The information that media outlets are reporting has been mostly generalizing the issue as being cantaloupe and it’s scaring consumers,” says Ferguson. “From the beginning, this was a Mexican cantaloupe recall coming from one source and all the subsequent recalls after that, from U.S. and Canadian companies, resulted from cantaloupes procured from that one single source.”
Safe growing regions
Classic Fruit was shipping melons from Yuma, Arizona during the initial timeframe the impacted cantaloupe were shipped from Mexico and have been shipping cantaloupe, grown in Guatemala, since early November. Ferguson says Classic Fruit puts forth great efforts and makes tremendous investments annually to ensure its operations, both in Guatemala and domestically, adhere to the highest requirements of all government agencies and third-party auditing companies.
It’s possible too that when a situation like this occurs, the produce associations and government agencies could play more of a stronger role in clarifying consumers’ concerns. “The associations should have been at the forefront of this from the beginning by advising the industry that a recall of Mexican cantaloupe from one single source had been issued and the product from that source be quickly removed from the market,” Ferguson says. “When news of the recalls only report a label, how does the consumer interpret that? With subsequent recalls from different parts of the country, it appears there is a widespread issue with the category but in actuality, all of the recalls are directly related to that same single Mexican source. Unfortunately though, consumers only see cantaloupe mentioned in media reports which strikes fear and concern.”
Meanwhile, some retailers have attempted to clarify that the issue is with Mexican-grown cantaloupe only as the source of the recall. “One retailer told me they put out signage on their melon displays advising that their cantaloupes are not of Mexican origin,” he says. “Unfortunately, the retailer advised there was too much negative media in their region causing consumers to stay away from the category out of concern, even if what was on the shelf was from a completely different source.”
For more information:
Tom Ferguson
Classic Fruit Company
Tel: +1 (954) 426-0775
tferguson@classicfruit.com
www.classicfruit.com