Reply #160: A fruitless effort [View All]

MCALLEN — The Food and Drug Administration's attempt to target a source for the nationwide salmonella outbreak has effectively shut down Texas border tomato traffic — and that of cilantro, jalapeños, and other peppers and produce, even though tainted ones have yet to be found in Mexico.

Industry losses, estimated at $250 million for the initially implicated tomatoes alone, are mounting as the FDA widens its probe. The standstill at the border is spreading through a distribution chain that reaches from the fields of Coahuila, Mexico, to wholesale markets in cities like Atlanta and Chicago.

It's evident in the rows of packing sheds in McAllen that normally bustle this time of year with northbound shipments of tomatoes and peppers.

Cold storage rooms stand empty. Conveyor belts are still. Owners pace their bare warehouses fielding cell phone calls from customs brokers for word on whether they can move what rapidly perishing product they still have.

Meanwhile, idle workers wonder how long they'll have jobs.

more......

www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/5886491.html

I don't know how this will affect the nation.....but we are looking at major shortages here in Texas.

edited to add....I didn't mean to post this article here....but in some perverse way it seems to fit.