By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

A LOCAL food safety official is urging restaurant owners and food service providers to discard any red, yellow or white onions that were sourced from ProSource Inc in Chihuahua, Mexico and distributed through the United States due to a Salmonella outbreak.

Dr Patricia Johnson, food and safety quality director at the Bahamas Agricultural Health and Food Safety Authority, said as The Bahamas does not as yet have a system in place to determine exactly what products enter the country, officials are urging providers to check their onion sources.

Dr Johnson said the onions of concern are dated July 1 to August 27.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States issued a food safety alert this week saying the ProSource Inc onions were sold to restaurants and grocery stores throughout the US. The company indicated the onions were last imported on August 27, but these imported onions can last up to three months in storage and may still be in homes and businesses.

“Our public statement is basically to make persons aware that, yes, there is a recall that is occurring with whole fresh onions originating from Chihuahua, Mexico and, of course, they were imported into the United States by a company called ProSource Incorporated also known as ProSource Products LLC,” Dr Johnson said yesterday.

“Those onions include the red, yellow and white onions and they include the onions dated July 1 to August 27 of this year that would have been imported under that particular period.

“So, there is the advice given by the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration with regards to that. It is very early in the investigation, so they really don’t know if other products have been affected so it’s just those onions originating from Mexico and distributed by ProSource that is of concern.”

She continued: “We do not have a system in place as yet to determine exactly what products enter the country. We’re working on that so our advice to the restaurant owners all the food service providers, consumers, retailers, wholesalers, our advice to them is to check their onion source and based on the dates provided by the recall to ensure the onions would not have originated from Chihuahua, Mexico or the company ProSource, Inc.

“If it has, they are advised to throw them out. Do not use, eat them or sell them. Just throw them out. If any retailers or wholesalers repackaged, they might get it in bulk and repacked them and if it turns out that the onions originated from that source, they’re advised to throw them out.

“We continue to advise the public to wash and sanitise if they come in contact with these particular onions and also to just be mindful to continue to wash their hands and all surfaces and storage areas.”

The CDC has urged people to throw away any whole red, white, or yellow onions that don’t have a sticker or packaging. It is also advised that people throw away any onions that have stickers or packaging with a ProSource brand and Mexico as the country of origin, the CDC said.

Dr Johnson said people who suspect they may have Salmonella infection typically come down with diarrhea, stomach pain and fever. In rare cases, it can also be fatal.

As investigations in the US continue, the CDC said there have been 652 cases of illness and 129 hospitalisations in 37 states.