Thailand halts Australian salad imports
Source: AAP

Thailand has halted imports of Australian prepacked lettuce after a salmonella outbreak and following a warning from a UN agency.

BANGKOK: -- Thailand has ordered a halt to imports of Australian pre-packed salads from a Victorian producer following an outbreak of salmonella.

The ban threatens millions of dollars of fresh food imports into Thailand and puts at risk Australia's high food safety record.

Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoen, spokesman for the Thai Ministry of Public Health, called on Thai consumers who purchased the Australian-sourced salads to dispose of them or return them to the point of sale.

Full story: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2016/02/08/thailand-halts-australian-salad-imports

-- SBS NEWS 2016-02-09

Ridiculous. The warning should relate to one supplier and it should have come from the supermarkets, with brand, batch number, dates etc. The problem was highly localised, albeit serious.

Perhaps the Australian government needs to put up warnings in supermarkets next to the billions of cans of Thai tuna warning people about the risk of scrombroid poisoning as well as the possibility that slave labour may have been used in the production.Same for prawns.

Salad from Australia? Long way for a lettuce to travel.

C'mon OZ, take a leaf from the Thai Book of Procedure and announce you're doing your very and ask for an extension before the ban is implemented.

Salad from Australia? Long way for a lettuce to travel.

Not unusual these days. Potatoes from Egypt appear on British supermarket shelves, and roses are picked in Kenya and are on sale the next day in European stores.

Israel is a major source of salad vegetables for Europe, which is why you can buy salad vegetables in the middle of a European winter, something that was unheard of when I was a puppy.

Billions of dollars in fresh food imports from Australia to Thailand? I find this figure hard to swallow....

Ridiculous. The warning should relate to one supplier and it should have come from the supermarkets, with brand, batch number, dates etc. The problem was highly localised, albeit serious.

Perhaps the Australian government needs to put up warnings in supermarkets next to the billions of cans of Thai tuna warning people about the risk of scrombroid poisoning as well as the possibility that slave labour may have been used in the production.Same for prawns.

Farmer Somchai cannot read English...

"Embellish the story" this has nothing to do with all the fruit , nuts and other fresh produce exported from land under, one (1) Victorian supplier , has been identified ,

salmonella attacks the gut and i feel sorry for anyone who is in the running man mode to the hong nam many times, or has the volcanic eruption coming out the other end, or the good old spasm cramps that make you remember you have a six pack under that flab,

Like any food leafy material washing in the first instance ,and maybe they will find some hygiene practises are not being carried out at the supplier who'll be shut down very quickly to protect the A rating.

Billions of dollars in fresh food imports from Australia to Thailand? I find this figure hard to swallow....

swap the B for an M more closer to the mark,

Billions of dollars in fresh food imports from Australia to Thailand? I find this figure hard to swallow....

OP states A$2.1 billion exports to Asia. Oz govt stats shows Australia exported $A48.3 million in fruits and nuts and $A43.9 million in "edible products and preparations" to Thailand 2014/2015.

Edited February 9, 201610 yr by simple1

There's gonna be a run on iceberg lettuce in the supermarkets now

Geez, first It was the US turkey ban and now the Aussie rabbit food....what next??

Salad from Australia? Long way for a lettuce to travel.

Yes, but when are they going to stop the fruits?

Billions of dollars in fresh food imports from Australia to Thailand? I find this figure hard to swallow....

That's Cos it's the tip of the Iceberg.

Salad from Australia? Long way for a lettuce to travel.

Plenty of salad available in Thailand via the tried and tested hydroponics technique, which begs the question why would you want to eat salad from Australia ?

Khun "Sam-and-Ella" are chef's at our local roadside diner!

I cannot think where I have seen Australian pre-packed salads anywhere in Thailand during the past 8 years - has anyone else??????

Perhaps K. Wattanayingcharoen, spokesman for the Thai Ministry of Public Health might want to establish this somewhat relevant and poignant fact first - seems a bit of smoke and mirrors and certainly dilutes the recent revelation that food poisoning in Thailand is a top 3 medical concern in Thailand.

Vegemite is still OK...... yaa!!!

There's gonna be a run on iceberg lettuce in the supermarkets now

A "run on" or "the runs from"?

Salad from Australia? Long way for a lettuce to travel.

Not unusual these days. Potatoes from Egypt appear on British supermarket shelves, and roses are picked in Kenya and are on sale the next day in European stores.

Israel is a major source of salad vegetables for Europe, which is why you can buy salad vegetables in the middle of a European winter, something that was unheard of when I was a puppy.

You are so right. I remember when the food everyone ate was "seasonal", which meant you looked forward to particular seasons with their different foods, e.g. strawberries. Now the food is imported year round, so fresh strawberries are available even at Xmas. However I do find that such foods tend to lack the flavour of fresh local produce. I once had to visit a large market garden to do some soil sampling and the farmer gave me a range of freshly picked veg. We cooked them that night and the flavour was do much better than supermarket imported veg. Also we should really consider the air miles the food has travelled. Even in Thailand, when my wife cooks most of the veg and all the herbs are from our farm and garden, resulting in so much more flavour. Not knocking the poor Aussies, but importing salad from Australia seems crazy. Maybe a big opening for Thais to grow more salad veg !!!

Glad to have my own organic ( hydrophonics) salad 'garden' always fresh and no use of chemicals

Ridiculous. The warning should relate to one supplier and it should have come from the supermarkets, with brand, batch number, dates etc. The problem was highly localised, albeit serious.

Perhaps the Australian government needs to put up warnings in supermarkets next to the billions of cans of Thai tuna warning people about the risk of scrombroid poisoning as well as the possibility that slave labour may have been used in the production.Same for prawns.

The salads were not only sold through supermarkets, Lite and Easy diet plan foods also use the same supplier and have recalled salad meals. The supplier is not providing salad only to supermarkets. We should however ask, do our salad products have stringent controls here in LoS

Anyone considering there us something else going in?

Like a very good reason called protectionism.

Or maybe an ultimate political reason fuelled by comments on Thailand?

There definitely is more to this.

how does one get salmonella from lettuce? usually meat products fish and fowl and icecream but I cant think of any other product perhaps someone will enlighten me.....

Seen the hygiene in Thailand and on markets i don't think salmonella is the issue.

Maybe there's another reason?

If you eat in Sizzlers all the vegy's from the saladbar are from the Royal farms. They taste good to me.

Homegrown vegy tastes much better then from supermarkets , the chemicals used to grow vegy make it taste bad.

Ridiculous. The warning should relate to one supplier and it should have come from the supermarkets, with brand, batch number, dates etc. The problem was highly localised, albeit serious.

Perhaps the Australian government needs to put up warnings in supermarkets next to the billions of cans of Thai tuna warning people about the risk of scrombroid poisoning as well as the possibility that slave labour may have been used in the production.Same for prawns.

Perhaps the Australian government needs to check the procedures in place with Australian manufacturers to ensure H&S in food products.

Be better than but, but, but, what about your products.

Lettuce just consider this for a moment.

how does one get salmonella from lettuce? usually meat products fish and fowl and icecream but I cant think of any other product perhaps someone will enlighten me.....

Contamination. The outbreak is believed to be linked to a fertiliser sourced from chicken farms & used to grow the lettuce.

Lettuce just consider this for a moment.

Groan

Ridiculous. The warning should relate to one supplier and it should have come from the supermarkets, with brand, batch number, dates etc. The problem was highly localised, albeit serious.

Perhaps the Australian government needs to put up warnings in supermarkets next to the billions of cans of Thai tuna warning people about the risk of scrombroid poisoning as well as the possibility that slave labour may have been used in the production.Same for prawns.

The salads were not only sold through supermarkets, Lite and Easy diet plan foods also use the same supplier and have recalled salad meals. The supplier is not providing salad only to supermarkets. We should however ask, do our salad products have stringent controls here in LoS

Lol.... Snagged out of the ground, thrown in the back of a pick up, and sold direct to you.

I have even been advised not to consume coconuts and watermelons, grown in low lying areas, because of pollutants in the water source... But can't speak to the truth in this.

One thing I do know, is that after returning to the LoS, I do seem to have a more repetative need of the bum gun after meals

That said, it's much better for Oz to stick it's hand up straight away and come clean, if nothing else, it highlights that they are doing the righty and can be trusted to act in the consumers best interest

As to the were of it... The villa markets down the road in Chalong sell a lot of Aussi imports, don't really know if this includes fruit and veg, but they certainly charge like it does!

So what was the deal with the New Zealand lamb in a carton labelled 'unfit for human consumption' lately seen in a 'certain wholesale store'?

Ridiculous. The warning should relate to one supplier and it should have come from the supermarkets, with brand, batch number, dates etc. The problem was highly localised, albeit serious.

Perhaps the Australian government needs to put up warnings in supermarkets next to the billions of cans of Thai tuna warning people about the risk of scrombroid poisoning as well as the possibility that slave labour may have been used in the production.Same for prawns.

Perhaps the Australian government needs to check the procedures in place with Australian manufacturers to ensure H&S in food products.

Be better than but, but, but, what about your products.

Read the supplied link.

The producer seems to have made the call to "recall" some products, which in turn alerted the watchdogs (including the UN).... Which indicates that the Australian producers are acting responsibly and promptly without having to be instructed to do so by any government oversight.

The "but but but" perhaps hilights the concept that other nations don't act as responsibly as Australian producers