Salmonella prompts U.S. retailers to look north

by michelle.sundvick | June 9, 2008 at 12:51 pm | 1687 views | 24 comments

As cases of salmonella poisoning are still being reported throughout the United States, retailers are looking to their neighboring country for supplies. This outbreak has caused a surge in demand for Canadian grown tomatoes; prices are up 10% since Monday.

Canadian officials are warning people of a possible link between uncooked tomatoes and salmonella. Dozens of Americans have fallen sick with the same salmonella infection - the only common factor being raw tomatoes. It has not been declared where these contaminated tomatoes came from.

The Food and Drug Administration yesterday issued a broad warning, telling consumers not to eat raw Roma, red plum or red round tomatoes, or products that contain these types of raw red tomatoes unless the tomatoes are from the following places:

California, Georgia, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, Netherlands, and Puerto Rico

The FDA will continue to update this list of safe sources here.

Also safe are cherry, grape, and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached.

The illnesses date back to mid-April! Since then, more than 145 people have become infected with an unusual strain known as Salmonella sereotype Saintpaul.

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.

The outbreak comes a year after FDA launched its Tomato Safety Initiative, which was
modeled after the Leafy Greens Safety Initiative that FDA started in the summer of 2006--right before the massive spinach outbreak.

McDonald's fast-food outlets in Canada have temporarily removed tomatoes from their menu options, after a U.S Food and Drug Administration advisory warned of a salmonella outbreak.

Signs posted outside franchises across the country informed customers of the missing ingredient.

Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, particularly in young children, sick and elderly people.

Common symptoms include fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.

McDonald's pledges to monitor the situation carefully.

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cynthia yoo

at 13:02 on June 9th, 2008

Yikes, rather disquieting news before the summer salad season~~

cynthiak.fountain

at 14:09 on June 9th, 2008

cynthiak.fountain has contributed a photo to this story.

jinzi

at 15:26 on June 9th, 2008

Heirloom tomatoes from a NJ organic garden.

jinzi has contributed a photo to this story.

Amiami

at 19:12 on June 9th, 2008

I never knew you could get salmonella from tomatoes!

wickenden

at 19:26 on June 9th, 2008

good stuff:

The interesting thing that I heard, in the coverage today, was that the recommendation is to "avoid eating raw tomatoes."

Not sure that is going to be possible, for me and mine.

don

annecyhs

at 21:17 on June 9th, 2008

These were Ontario-grown Roma tomatoes that we processed last autumn into some terrific homemade pasta sauce. I sure hope that this year's batch will be salmonella-free!!!

annecyhs has contributed a photo to this story.

kickchk

at 21:34 on June 9th, 2008

Roma tomato - just getting started.

kickchk has contributed a photo to this story.

This Man's Kitchen

at 22:01 on June 9th, 2008

Grow your own tomatoes. They taste better and have no salmonella!

This Man's Kitchen has contributed a photo to this story.

z e n g a

at 22:29 on June 9th, 2008

Thanks Michelle, you did contact me, I love photography, and if this shot can be used in your site, it´s wellcome for me.
I don´t know about salmonella, tomorrow I´ll ask to my sister about this problem, she is Bromatologhy

z e n g a has contributed a photo to this story.

Klnyc

at 22:30 on June 9th, 2008

Yah, I read the news today too.
Good thing I didn go by Wendys phew!

Klnyc has contributed a photo to this story.

LukaIsntLuka

at 23:07 on June 9th, 2008

These are home grown tomatoes that my husband and I grew in the spring and summer of 2007. They were Roma tomatoes and were delicious.

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yifatiii

at 06:08 on June 10th, 2008

Oh my god! there is salmonella infection in tomatoes?!
I thought that salmonella was discovered only in eggs.
Friends, Please buy only organic tomatoes for your health ♥

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mochovileda

at 07:24 on June 10th, 2008

It's crazy that the only thing you think is safe in Mc Donald's food it's completely dangerous!!

md76

at 10:18 on June 10th, 2008

When I saw this message, it seemed alarmist. Now that I hear it's actually 16 states it seems a little more reasonable.

They've also pulled all Roma tomatoes from my local grocery store in Seattle.

md76 has contributed a photo to this story.

kaiserz

at 10:22 on June 10th, 2008

is the samonella problem related only to commercially grown and processed tomatoes? I would think that home grown ones would be safe?

The photos are of our own indoor apartment grown cherry tomatoes, they were quite scrumptious!

pinemikey

at 10:28 on June 10th, 2008

Roma Tomatoes

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pinemikey

at 11:06 on June 10th, 2008

Photo taken in Sept 2007 in Brownsville, Texas

milomingo

at 12:26 on June 10th, 2008

I alway grow my own tomatoes organically, flavor can't be beat and no worries. I can't imagine my life without tomatoes. So odd they used to be considered poisonous in times gone by....

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mishadyer

at 13:49 on June 10th, 2008

This was taken in Japan, where this hamburger probably costs $14.00 USD. I'd rather have a rice bowl with some fish & veggies, ones without salmonella.

mishadyer has contributed a photo to this story.

red zongbyrd

at 15:19 on June 10th, 2008

the tomatoes i buy are grown in California and Georgia. no concerns here.

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Tirau Dan

at 02:38 on June 12th, 2008

Wonderful safe to eat, fresh produce from New Zealand. The pictured Peppers, tomatoes and berries are from the Waikato Province (also the heart of NZ Dairy farming).
see Waikato scenes at TirauDan.com

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Chili_bob

at 22:41 on June 12th, 2008

Growing your own is the best way to get your fruits and veggies. It is ironic that my pic shows both the safe and the unsafe varieties involved with the latest bac-attack!

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Stonehomes

at 22:53 on June 15th, 2008

Homegrown in my tiny Mt. Airy (Philadelphia) PA garden.

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artstr2

at 12:54 on June 23rd, 2008

These were great tomatoes from my yard. But salmonella is not what got them ... it was squirrels and an urban opposum who were thirsty during the drought.

artstr2 has contributed a photo to this story.