on Jun 7th, 2008Salmonella now in 16 states
The federal Centers for Disease Control says an outbreak of salmonella, reported yesterday, has spread from Texas and New Mexico to 14 other states and authorities are trying to pin down the source of the raw tomatoes believed to be the cause. Texas now reports 56 cases of salmonella food poisoning and New Mexico 55.Â
The CDC is also trying to determine if the tomatoes are responsible for 50 more cases in the following states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
The strain of salmonella is relatively rare and that, coupled with the numbers of illnesses prompted a CDC spokeswoman to say the facts “suggest that implicated tomatoes are distributed throughout the country.”
Homegrown tomatoes are believed to be safe, but in much of the US the only fresh tomatoes available now are imports, often from Mexico.
The Food and Drug Administration says tomatoes from several states and countries are not associated with the outbreak. They are are raw Roma, red plum and round red tomatoes from Arkansas, California, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Belgium, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, Netherlands and Puerto Rico.
More on the outbreak here. And if you’re fortunate to have a choice of tomatoes from several of the unrelated places, I can say I’ve never had a disappointing tomato from Israel or the Netherlands. Unfortunately, markets in my area stopped carrying them long ago because of consumer resistance to their price, about 10 - 30 cents per pound more than Mexican tomatoes. If you can get them from a farmers’ market (not necessarily safe, see link below) or your own back yard, so much the better.
Related: FDA Expands Tomato Warnings
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Thank you for the update ella. From what you’ve posted, I think my tomatoes are from safe sources. Still, growing ones own is a good idea. There may be something to the macrobiotic notion of only eating locally grown food in season. That requires an adjustment for many of us who are used to having everything instantly available.
MusEditions’s last blog post..Meme again; it’s meme for a day
Hi, Muse. Glad it’s helpful information. I’m a huge advocate of sustainability and seasonality and that is how I cook, despite the best efforts of supermarkets to convince us nothing is ever out of season, except pomegranates and cranberries.
However, eating only locally-grown produce isn’t a practical option for millions. Either the growing season is too short or the local climate isn’t tropical enough to enable people to grow things such as bananas. I suppose I could eat only what New England can produce in a few months each year, but I wouldn’t like it.
What galls me is being right next door to Maine, which is as famous as Idaho for its potatoes. And where are most of the supermarket spuds from? California.
Thanks for the update. Wondering if there is any difference between organic and non-organic? I know organic doesn’t protect against salmonella (remembering the spinach issues a year or two ago), but wonder if the suspect tomatoes fall into either category easily.
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Hi, blue…I haven’t seen any distinction about the tomatoes involved. Doesn’t mean there isn’t one, I just haven’t seen it. But you’re right that organic produce has no special dispensation when it comes to salmonella or any other food-borne illness.
I don’t put all the burden of safety on stores to pull the suspect tomatoes. I have a responsibility too, to check them. I was in a market yesterday where some had been pulled — no sign or explanation — but there were others I had my doubts about because they are traditionally Mexican in origin (bagged grape tomatoes) but the label only told me where they were packaged. I took a pass and bought some Georgia peaches (that actually smell like peaches) instead.
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