Skip directly to search Skip directly to A to Z list Skip directly to navigation Skip directly to page options Skip directly to site content

Advice to Consumers, Restaurants, and Retailers

Photo of a papaya cut open

Maradol Papaya: Maradol papayas are a large, oval fruit that weighs 3 or more pounds, with green skins that turn yellow when the fruit is ripe. The flesh inside the fruit is salmon-colored.

CDC recommends that consumers not eat, restaurants not serve, and retailers not sell Maradol papayas from the El Zapotanito farm in Mexico.

  • If you aren’t sure if the papaya you bought is a Maradol papaya from the El Zapotanito farm, ask the place of purchase. Restaurants and retailers can ask their suppliers.
  • Maradol papayas have a green skin that turns yellow as the fruit ripens.
  • When in doubt, don’t eat, sell, or serve them; just throw them out.
  • Wash and sanitize countertops as well as drawers or shelves in refrigerators where papayas were stored.
TOP