Health regulators said they will block all Mexican papayas at the border unless importers can prove they are not contaminated with salmonella, following an outbreak of the foodborne illness that sickened 100 people.
The Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday the outbreak, which spread to 23 U.S. states, was linked to fresh papayas from nearly all the major papaya-growing regions in Mexico.
From May to August, 15.6 percent of the Mexican papayas the FDA inspected were contaminated with salmonella.
U.S. and Mexican officials are working together to find the cause of the outbreak, and improve food safety and testing for salmonella in the future.
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