US fresh fruit and vegetable producer Fresh Del Monte Produce has denied being notified by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding any preliminary inquiry.


The statement came in response to a report by BB&T Capital Markets indicating that BB&T has SEC correspondence referring to a preliminary inquiry into Fresh Del Monte by the SEC from 21 November 2002 to 12 December 2002.


Fresh Del Monte said that it has not been notified verbally or in writing by the SEC of any preliminary inquiry, nor has the company received any requests from the SEC for information. The company said that any suggestion in the BB&T report that Fresh Del Monte is subject to a continuing SEC investigation is completely unfounded.