The recent Australian salmonella outbreak linked to leafy vegetables could spread to Asia via exported produce.
As Adelaide Now reports, the outbreak is thought to have originated from Bacchus Marsh’s Tripod Farms.
As the SMH reports, a Senate Estimates hearing has now been told that 23 consignments of Tripod Farms’ produce which could also be affected by salmonella have been exported to Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand.
"We have written to those three countries involved, with 23 identified consignments that may contain lettuce from that particular establishment," Chris Parker, assistant secretary of the Department of Agriculture’s plant export operations branch told the hearing.
"This is regular business that we would clearly notify our trading partners when issues may or may not arise and it is something they would do for us as well."
To date, 128 Australians have been affected by the outbreak.
Vegetable grower body AUSVEG is urging Australian consumers to continue buying the fresh and pre-packaged vegetable products despite the problem.
“The events of last week have had a substantial impact on growers around the country, including in states unaffected by the recall, and AUSVEG is calling on Australian consumers to throw their support behind the Australian vegetable industry and continue to buy locally-grown produce,” AUSVEG National Manager – Scientific Affairs Dr Jessica Lye said in a statement.
“This recent recall is not indicative of a systematic food safety issue in the vegetable industry – it is limited to one supplier, and all affected product has been taken off the shelves.”