Del Monte Asks Court to Lift FDA Import Alert on Cantaloupes from Guatemala

Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A., Inc. has filed a complaint for declaratory and
injunctive relief against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in a federal
court in Maryland alleging that the agency lacked an adequate factual basis
after a Salmonella outbreak in early 2011 to conclude that the company’s
Guatemalan cantaloupe supplier was the source of the contamination. Del
Monte Fresh Produce N.A., Inc. v. United States, No. __ (D. Md., filed
August 23, 2011).

On the basis of that conclusion, FDA allegedly demanded that the company
issue a recall or “suffer the consequences of an FDA consumer advisory
questioning the wholesomeness of Del Monte cantaloupes.” The agency also
imposed an import alert under which Del Monte is prohibited from importing
cantaloupes from its Guatemalan source without proving the fruit is “negative”
for Salmonella and other pathogens. According to Del Monte, “this prohibition
will continue indefinitely into the future unless enjoined by this Court.” The
company alleges that the Guatemalan farms supplying its cantaloupes follow all applicable food safety procedures and that FDA had no evidence, even after
testing, that the farms were the source of the Salmonella outbreak. Del Monte
also questions whether the outbreak was linked to cantaloupes, because one
person who fell ill had evidently not eaten any.

Alleging arbitrary and capricious action, agency action in excess of statutory
jurisdiction and agency action without following proper procedures, Del Monte
asks the court to set aside the import alert, permanently enjoin FDA from
implementing or enforcing it and declare that the alert is unlawful.