HLB Specialties urges distinction between papaya varieties

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based HLB Specialties has asked retailers and media to highlight variety, grower and country of origin information about papayas due to an ongoing salmonella outbreak being linked to maradol papayas from the Carica de Campeche farm in Mexico.

Papayas from Guatemala and Brazil, other varieties such as formosa, and Mexican maradol papayas not from Carica de Campeche are safe, according to the company.

“The safety of the consumers is our highest priority. We share their concern, but we also want to provide as much information as possible so that shoppers can make an educated decision when buying papayas,” Melissa Hartmann de Barros, director of communications, said in a news release.

“People want to keep buying papayas because they taste great and are healthy,” Hartmann de Barros said. “But they need help identifying (what) the different varieties look like.”

The outbreak sourced to Carica de Campeche has sickened 141 people in 19 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.