On August 20, 2010 the U.S. FDA warned customers not to eat frozen mamey fruit pulp.

At least nine people in California and Nevada fell ill with typhoid fever. An investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed a link between an ongoing attack of Salmonella typhi infections and the frozen mamey fruit pulp products.

These are fresh mamey sold at markets throughout the tropics. Photo from flickr.

Mamey is a popular fruit in tropical countries. They are also known as sapote. People would make juices or smoothies with mamey.

I didn’t even know they have frozen mamey pulp for sale in the U.S. The only mamey I’ve had are made into ice cream by a local company. Lucky I didn’t get sick from eating them. From now on, I’ll have to be extra careful about eating imported tropical fruits.

The mamey are sold under the brands The La Nuestra of Montalvan Sales Inc. in Ontario, California and the Goya brand by Goya Foods Inc. of Secaucus, N.J. Both companies have voluntarily recalled the product. The mamey comes from the same supplier in Guatemala.

The FDA is working with CDC and state partners to investigate the outbreak. The FDA continues to take samples of imported frozen mamey pulp at the borders to prevent contaminated product from entering the United States.

Symptoms of Typhoid fever from Mayo Clinic:

Although children with typhoid fever sometimes become sick suddenly, signs and symptoms are more likely to develop gradually — often appearing one to three weeks after exposure to the disease.

First week of illness. Once signs and symptoms do appear, you’re likely to experience:

* Fever, often as high as 103 or 104 F (39.4 or 40 C)
* Headache
* Weakness and fatigue
* Sore throat
* Abdominal pain
* Diarrhea or constipation
* Rash

It is scary to think of eating things raw these days. Unless you wash and cook it well. And I don’t know how the “raw food” people do it.

Even with the frozen sapotes (imported from Vietnam), I wash them well with hot water. And occasionally steam blast them too. All this before eating it.

More info:

Both the Goya and La Nuestra products are sold frozen. The Goya product is sold in 14-ounce packages in retail stores nationwide. All production lot codes are being recalled. The UPC is 041331090803.

The La Nuestra brand mamey pulp comes in a 14-ounce plastic package. All lot numbers are affected by this recall; however, packages produced prior to May 2009 are not identified with a lot number and are subject to this recall as well. The UPC is 7-56869-10008-4. - The Medical News.

Note: This outbreak of Salmonella Typhi is not related to the current outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis linked to eggs in their shells.