228 Cases of Salmonella Now Linked to Tainted Tomatoes

Drew Dixon

Contributor

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Last week I blogged about the outbreak of Salmonella in several types of raw tomatoes. Today I was made aware of a recent update from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) attributing the number of illnesses attributed to Salmonella tainted tomatoes to be 228. Infections have been reported in at least twenty-three states since mid-April, with the last 61 cases found in Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New York, Tennessee, and Vermont.

Although the source of the Salmonella has yet to be found, the Food and Drug Administration warns against raw red plum, red round, and Roma tomatoes from geographic areas it hasn't approved.

At this time the FDA has approved tomatoes from 27 states, Belgium, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, the Netherlands, and Puerto Rico. The safe states are Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

The FDA continues to state Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and tomatoes with the vine still attached are ok to eat and have not been linked to the Salmonella outbreak.

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