The US Food and Drug Administration is expanding its warning to consumers throughout the US not to eat Roma, plum and round raw red tomatoes because they could be contaminated with a rare type of salmonella that can be fatal to vulnerable people although it is unlikely to kill anyone who is healthy. The warning had been limited to Texas and New Mexico until the 7th of June.
The FDA said it advises consumers not to eat raw red Roma, raw red plum, raw red round tomatoes, or any food products that contain these ingredients, unless they know that the tomatoes have come from a source not linked to the recent outbreak.
Since the middle of April, the agency has received reports of 145 cases of people (including 23 that had to be hospitalized) from states all over the US who became ill with salmonellosis caused by the same strain of salmonella: Salmonella Saintpaul. The states reporting cases linked to the outbreak included: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
73 of the people who fell ill were interviewed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who reported that they became ill between April 16th and May 27th.
If you have bought tomatoes and you don’t know where they were grown, then contact the store you bought them from, said the FDA.
Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and tomatoes sold still attached to the vine are safe to eat, said the FDA, as are home grown tomatoes.
On 5th June, the federal agency published “Advice for Retailers, Restaurateurs and Food Service Operators”. By analysing distribution patterns, and using what they called “traceback review”, the agency listed the following regions as “not associated with the outbreak”:
Safe Sources: Inside the USA
- Arkansas
- California
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- North Carolina
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
Safe Sources: Outside the US
- Belgium
- Canada
- Dominican Republic
- Guatemala
- Israel
- Netherlands
- Puerto Rico
To stay up to date with this list, go to this web address: www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/tomatoes.html#retailers.
The FDA said retailers, restauranteurs and food service operators should not sell raw red Roma, raw red plum or raw red round tomatoes unless they are from the regions given in the above lists. Cherry and grape tomatoes, and those sold on the vine, are OK from any source, said the agency.
But some outlets, like Taco Bell and Chipotle, have stopped selling tomatoes altogether for the time being, reported the Los Angeles Times earlier today, while others, like Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons have stopped selling Roma, red plum and round red tomatoes.
Salmonellosis is the disease that occurs when a person is infected with the salmonella bacteria. It can be serious and fatal to young children, weak and elderly people, and anyone with an immune system that is weak, for instance from chemotherapy or because they have AIDS.
The illness is rarely fatal to healthy people, who usually have abdominal pain, fever, diarrhea (sometimes with blood), nausea and vomiting. In very rare cases where a healthy person has salmonellosis, the bacteria can get into the bloodstream, for instance through a hole in the bowel, and that can become serious.
If you have recently eaten raw tomatoes or food containing raw tomatoes and you have any of these symptoms you should see your doctor straight away. Cases of salmonellosis should also be reported to the state or local health authority.
The FDA said the source of the contamination could be just a single grower or packer, and is continuing its efforts to trace the source.
Some media sources have commented on the fact that Mexico and Florida are not on the list of safe sources.
Source:FDA.
Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD