On March 2, 1989, the United States embassy in Santiago, Chile received an anonymous phone call claiming that Chilean fruit shipments headed toward the U.S had been poisoned with the toxin cyanide.[1] The Japanese embassy also received a similar phone call. However the caller did not include information about what fruit had been poisoned or what container it was shipped in. That same day the United States Custom Service ordered that all Chilean fruit not be sent to the public.
Chile at the time was experiencing substantial political instability following a national plebiscite on the Pinochet dictatorship. The military government, without evidence, blamed local Marxist extremists for the call.[2]
Authorities concluded that the threat was not credible on March6, and began releasing the fruit.[3]
On March7, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began investigating the cyanide threats, and, the next day, they received yet another threat about the poisoned fruit. In response the FDA started more thorough inspections of all incoming produce.[4]
Temporary recall
On March 12, inspectors found two grapes that tested positive for cyanide under the cyantesmo test, and then quantified the amount with chloramine-T. There was little cyanide present: 0.51ppm, not enough to cause sickness in a small child.[3]
The origin of the cyanide detected on March 12 remains in dispute,[1] because the natural sugars and organic acids found in fruit such as grapes can react with and break down cyanide.[5] Chile argues that any cyanide applied before shipment could not have survived the trip to the US, and instead proposed an American political conspiracy (see §Economic and political impact).[6] Alternatively, then-standard fumigants contained cyanide.[7]
Although the amount of cyanide found was minimal, the FDA started a full investigation. The American Produce Association estimated that two million cases of fruit were pulled from shelves in the United States. The import suspension on fruit lasted a total of five days before the FDA and Chile came to an agreement. This agreement was that all Chilean produce needed to pass an inspection in order to be put onto the shelves.[1]
Shortly after, on March 17, there was a third phone call threat, however there were no more contaminated fruit being found. By the middle of April the inspections of Chilean produce returned back to normal.[1]
Economic-political impact
Table grapes are the leading Chilean agricultural export to the United States.[8] The temporary pause caused significant distress in the Chilean fruit sector, with losses estimated at around $200 million. Roughly 20,000 workers in the Chilean fruit sector lost their jobs at the time.[1]
According to the US Government Accountability Office, approximately 47 million crates of fruit had already been exported before the suspension, out of an expected 103 million for the season.[3] Shipments already on their way were delayed, and packing facilities suspended operations while inspections began. The Chilean government agreed to allow all fruit exports to be inspected before shipment.[1]
The incident reportedly affected Chile's overall reputation internationally. Some foreign buyers and governments increased their inspection and regulations on Chilean produce following the event.[1]
↑ Smith, R. A. (December 1989). "Sodium cyanide and its rapid detoxification by grape juice". Veterinary and Human Toxicology. 31 (6): 538–539. PMID2617836.
↑ Engel, Eduardo (1996), Uvas envenenadas, vacas locas y proteccionismo[Poisoned grapes, mad cows and protectionism], Originally published as Documentos de Trabajo 9 by Centro de Economía Aplicada, Universidad de Chile, See sections beyond first paragraph of §2.1.2, archived from the original on 1 Dec 2012
↑ EE UU investiga un supuesto envenenamiento de uva chilena, El País, 15 Mar 1989
↑ U.S.-Chilean Trade: Developments in the Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry Sectors, GAO/GGD-93-88
↑ ASIA: Between U.S. and Chile, a Grape Divide: A report that the 1989 poison scare was probably a hoax has growers angry once again. And California counterparts aren’t helping matters. LA Times, Dec. 31, 1994
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