FDA Issues Tomato Warning

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Approximately 145 people have become ill from salmonella poisoning attributed to raw tomatoes. No one has died from the recent outbreak, but at least 23 people have been hospitalized.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the majority of the infections have occurred in New Mexico and Texas, but cases also have been reported in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

The FDA advised consumers on which tomatoes to avoid and which are safe to eat. Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached are not associated with the outbreak and can be eaten as normal.

Raw red Roma, raw red plum and raw red round tomatoes are still being investigated as the source of the outbreak, and consumers should not eat them, unless they are from one of the sources that the FDA has cleared (listed below).

Tomatoes from the following states and countries are not associated with the outbreak and are considered safe to eat:

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

The FDA will continue to update this list on its website as it uncovers more details.

This strain was so rare in past years, according to the Chronicle, that officials believe the infected tomatoes were distributed throughout the United States, and there will likely be many more cases of illness than have been reported so far.

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