Warnings Shelve Tomatoes Locally

By Andrea Holecek, The Times, Munster, Ind.

Jun. 10–A possible link between certain types of fresh tomatoes and a recent 16-state — including Illinois and Indiana — Salmonella outbreak is making local distributors and retailers see red.

“Tomato sales are down 25 percent,” Chuck Bakker, president of Griffith-based Bakker Produce, said Monday. “It’s affecting business.”

Bakker, whose company distributes fresh fruit and vegetables to restaurants, stores and institutions in Northwest Indiana and Northeast Illinois, said the tomato situation is frustrating because a definite link has not been established between the disease and the tomato.

“It started April 23 when they had some illnesses and they weren’t sure it was from tomatoes,” he said.

“There’s no definite connection between tomatoes and the illness,” Bakker said. “They don’t know yet where it came from. That’s the biggest problem. Growers aren’t moving as many tomatoes, some restaurants are choosing not to serve them.”

The lag time between the initial reports of the food-borne illness and a Food and Drug Administration investigation has been a problem, Bakker said.

“These (advisories) come out two months after the fact and by then they’re (the source of the contamination) all gone,” he said. “It seems the government should be able to find out something in a more timely manner.”

Strack & Van Til stores have posted signs telling customers that it gets its tomatoes from Georgia, an area that has been deemed safe.

“We posted signs in case there would be concern,” said Clarence Wisnieski, a produce merchandiser for the chain. “We want people to know our tomatoes are fine.”

Local WiseWay Foods stores removed Roma tomatoes during the weekend when the chain received an updated FDA alert. The Roma tomatoes were grown in a place that hadn’t been cleared by the FDA.

“We pulled them because the FDA told us to do so,” said president Donald Weiss. “But there are no reports that they caused anyone any problems. It’s a precautionary thing.”

The other tomatoes carried by WiseWay are from sources the FDA is listing as acceptable, said Jay Werkowski, WiseWay’s director of perishables and produce buyer.

“We’re not going to source them (tomatoes) from any area until they’ve been cleared,” he said.

Jewel Food Stores has removed raw red plum, Roma or round red tomatoes covered under the advisory from its stores until further notice, spokesman Miguel Alba said.

“We will continue to monitor the situation involving possible Salmonella contamination in certain tomato products and will look to the guidance given by the FDA as the lead governing agency on this matter,” he said in an email.

Several types of tomatoes are available in Jewel stores, including cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes and tomatoes with the vine attached are considered a fully safe alternative by the FDA, Alba said.

McDonald’s restaurant chain announced Monday it had stopped serving sliced tomatoes until the source of the Salmonella outbreak is found, but will continue using grape tomatoes in its salads because they haven’t been linked to the contamination.

In Schererville, Teibel’s restaurant executive chef Joe Pavell said his kitchen also is serving only grape tomatoes in its salads. It is using round tomatoes but only those coming from areas deemed as acceptable by the FDA.

“We’re using from suppliers and from food vendor who are sure they (the tomatoes) are from a secure source,” Pavell said.

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