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June 9, 2008, 4:29 pm
Flag as Inappropriate skatss  

Now the warning has gone nationwide!   Well, at least we can still have cherry tomatoes.

"The Food and Drug Administration is expanding its warning to consumers nationwide that a salmonellosis outbreak has been linked to consumption of certain raw red plum, red Roma, and red round tomatoes, and products containing these raw, red tomatoes.

FDA recommends that consumers not eat raw red Roma, raw red plum, raw red round tomatoes, or products that contain these types of raw red tomatoes unless the tomatoes are from the sources listed below. If unsure of where tomatoes are grown or harvested, consumers are encouraged to contact the store where the tomato purchase was made.

Consumers should continue to eat cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, or tomatoes grown at home.

On June 5, using traceback and other distribution pattern information, FDA published a list of states, territories, and countries where tomatoes are grown and harvested which have not been associated with this outbreak.

This updated list includes:  Arkansas, California, Georgia, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, Netherlands, and Puerto Rico.

This list will be updated as more information becomes available.

FDA's recommendation does not apply to the following tomatoes from any source: cherry, grape, and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached.

FDA recommends that retailers, restaurateurs, and food service operators not offer for sale and service raw red Roma, raw red plum, and raw red round tomatoes unless they are from the sources listed above. Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, may continue to be offered from any source.

Since mid April, there have been 145 reported cases of salmonellosis caused by Salmonella Saintpaul nationwide, including at least 23 hospitalizations. States reporting illnesses linked to the outbreak include: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. Salmonella Saintpaul is an uncommon type of Salmonella.

Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections particularly in young children, frail or elderly people, and those with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, the organism can get into the bloodstream and produce more severe illnesses. Consumers who have recently eaten raw tomatoes or foods containing raw tomatoes and are experiencing any of these symptoms should contact their health care provider. All Salmonella infections should be reported to state or local health authorities.

FDA recognizes that the source of the contaminated tomatoes may be limited to a single grower or packer or tomatoes from a specific geographic area. FDA also recognizes that there are many tomato crops across the country and in foreign countries that will be ready for harvest or will become ready in the coming months. In order to ensure that consumers can continue to enjoy tomatoes that are safe to eat, FDA is working diligently with the states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Indian Health Service, and various food industry trade associations to quickly determine the source of the tomatoes associated with the outbreak.

FDA is taking these actions while the agency continues to investigate this outbreak with state and federal partners. Such actions are a key component of FDA's Food Protection Plan a scientific and risk-based approach to strengthen and protect the nation's food supply."

So it seems as if the fear is going to get worse and worse until we get some definite answers as to where this outbreak started and why.

No fresh tomatoes will probably be sold in most places until people again think they are safe.

Darn.

I feel bad for all the growers who will be hurt by this. Farming is difficult enough without such things happening.

I have a friend that just suffered from food poisoning from one of these tomatoes. He was very sick for about a week and a half and lost about 12 pounds.

So, where exactly did these tomatoes come from? I heard Texas earlier...

One more reason to grow your own. I normally grow 2-3 plants in containers so I have fresh tomatoes all summer long. They don't take up much space at all and still get to be a pretty nice size.

Chris

Where I live McDonalds even took them off their products as well just as a precaution. It is getting crazy anymore.

I wonder where these tomatoes come from too. There needs to be legal action against the growers since the contamination seems to be in the tomato itself and not on the outside where washing will remove it.

It looks like they still can't tell exactly where these tomatoes are coming from, or else they could be more specific about the recall, instead of making it less specific, covering most of the nation.

The worst thing is that soon, no one will eat tomatoes for fear that it might be from the tainted bunch. Lost of farms are going to be in big trouble.

Even organic farmers, who, as far as I know, don't have tainted tomatoes will not be able to sell their crop either. People will refuse to eat any tomatoes so no one will buy them to use them.

It's so sad, because farmers work so hard and such a thing can really hurt them.

I don't think it will go that far skatss. People have gone back to eating fresh bagged spinach. Do you recall the mass hysteria over that?

I do feel bad for smaller farmstands that could loose big business but it does only say raw tomatoes, so processed could be ok? I don't buy many until mine have grown as they are so expensive so I suppose I should be happy about that.