Salmonella Contamination of Tomatoes Causes Injuries Nationwide
Salmonella food poisoning from raw tomatoes has spread to 16 states, causing U.S. health officials to speculate that the outbreak might be nationwide.
Judging from the number of cases, the contamination appears to have first begun in Texas and New Mexico in mid-April. The latest statistics from those two states' health departments put the number of cases at 56 in Texas and 55 in New Mexico. An additional 50 people are suspected to have been poisoned with the Saint Paul strain of salmonella bacterium in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
What tomatoes appear to be safe for consumption? The FDA says cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine attached, and homegrown tomatoes are not implicated in the outbreak.
How does an otherwise nutritional vegetable plant cause widespread illness? Basically, it's not a problem with the tomato itself but how it may be harvested or grown. The salmonella bacteria is common in animal feces. It is believed that the tomatoes somehow came in contact with animal feces during the growing or harvesting process. It is not common for tomatoes to cause this kind of illness without some external contamination source.
More about this outbreak in tomorrow's blog.
can you eat the tomatoes if you wash them well? is it better to peel the tomatoes? is the cotamination only on the outside of the fruit or is it also inside the tomatoes? will cooking take care of the problem? thank you for your help.