Health Issues
Tomato Recall 2008: FDA Expands Ban on Salmonella Tomatoes
By Jonas Oliver

Jun 10, 2008

Last week, the FDA and CDC warned that dozens of people in nine states  had fallen ill after consuming certain types of raw, red tomatoes. Today the FDA has broadened its list of tomatoes to avoid because of a salmonella outbreak that has sickened at least 145 people in 16 states since the middle of April.  

While there have been no deaths reported in the salmonella tomato outbreak, 23 people have been hospitalized with Salmonella Saintpaul, the rare form of salmonella associated with this outbreak.  

According to WebMD, Salmonella Saintpaul cases have been reported in the following states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.  

The news of the Salmonella outbreak is having a ripple effect across the food industry in America. In response to the news of the outbreak McDonald's, the nation's largest restaurant company, pulled tomatoes from its premium chicken sandwiches and the Big N' Tasty burger Friday.  

As of today, McDonald’s has temporarily pulled tomatoes from all of its sandwiches in in the United States, as a precautionary move in the wake of a salmonella outbreak, despite the fact that the company has not detected salmonella bacteria in any of its tomato supplies, said McDonald's spokesman Bill Whitman.  

“Wth an abundance of caution, we want to make sure our food items containing tomatoes are absolutely safe," Whitman said.   

Salmonella bacteria can cause diarrhea (which may be bloody), fever, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Serious and potentially fatal cases are more likely in young children, frail or elderly people, and people with weak immune systems.  

Because of the salmonella outbreak, the FDA advises consumers not to eat raw red Roma, raw red plum, and raw red round tomatoes, or products containing those types of tomatoes, unless the tomatoes are from the following places, which have not been linked to the outbreak:  

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

Not all tomatoes are on the FDA's warning list. Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, and home-grown tomatoes haven't been linked to the outbreak, according to the FDA.