Latest Tomatoes Stories

WASHINGTON - Adding to tomato confusion, the government is about to start testing numerous other types of fresh produce in the hunt for the source of the nation's record salmonella outbreak - even as it insists tomatoes remain the leading suspect. Investigators are mum on exactly what other vegetables are being tracked. "Items commonly served with fresh tomatoes" is the only hint Food and Drug Administration food safety chief Dr. David Acheson would give, calling it "irresponsible" to...

By Johanna D. Wilson, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Jul. 3--While the Food and Drug Administration expands its investigation of the nation's salmonella outbreak beyond tomatoes, area farmers said business continues to be brisk for homegrown tomatoes. "I can hardly keep my tomatoes," said Wanda Bellamy, of Bellamy Farms in Loris, where the average customer is buying at least five pounds of tomatoes. "They have been going, and our customers don't care how they look. They don't care if...

Produce other than tomatoes is being examined by U.S. officials stymied in their efforts to find the source of a salmonella outbreak that has sickened 869 Americans. Tomatoes suspected to have caused the outbreak may have been contaminated by contact with other produce, officials of the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday on a conference call with reporters. The number of people who have become ill since the outbreak began in April is a...

The government is now intensifying its hunt for the source of the largest salmonella outbreak in U.S. history. So far, investigators have not commented on what other vegetables are under scrutiny for the salmonella scare that has now sickened 869 people. Some are worried the FDA is not doing enough due to the fact that 179 Americans fell ill in June, the latest on June 20-more than two months after the first salmonella illnesses appeared. That means the outbreak is continuing weeks longer...

The government is checking if tainted tomatoes really are to blame for a record outbreak of salmonella - or if the problem is with another ingredient, or a warehouse that is contaminating newly harvested tomatoes. The widening outbreak - with 810 people confirmed ill - means whatever is making people sick still could be on the market, federal health officials warned yesterday. Tomatoes remain the top suspect, stressed Food and Drug Administration food safety chief Dr. David Acheson....

By Susan Salisbury, The Palm Beach Post, Fla. Jun. 27--Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson said Thursday he is "99.99 percent" sure that a national salmonella outbreak was not caused by Florida-grown tomatoes, but that more definitive identification of produce origin would help investigators track down where the infection came from. Bronson traveled Thursday to Washington to meet with David Acheson, the Food and Drug Administration's associate commissioner for foods, to...

By BOB GROVES, STAFF WRITER A 2-year-old Bergen County boy and three other New Jersey residents are among hundreds of Americans sickened this season by salmonella-tainted tomatoes, officials said Tuesday. The unidentified boy, who became sick on May 27, has recovered from the bacterial illness linked to several varieties of tomatoes, said state Health Commissioner Heather Howard. The other New Jerseyans affected are a 7-year-old Monmouth County boy who became ill on May 23; a 41-year-old...

By Lauran Neergaard WASHINGTON - Pick a tomato in the blazing sun and plunge it straight into cold water. If that happened on the way to market, it might be contaminated. Too big of a temperature difference can make a tomato literally suck water inside the fruit through the scar where its stem used to be. If salmonella happens to be lurking on the skin, that's one way it can penetrate and, if the tomato isn't eaten right away, have time to multiply. That doesn't mean people shouldn't wash...

By Rob Young, The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C. Jun. 23--You say tomato. I say "tomahto." We say salmonella. Since mid-April, a salmonella outbreak linked to raw tomatoes has sickened at least 552 people in 32 states and Washington, D.C., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But no cases have been reported in South Carolina, improving business for local growers and providers. "I've sold more, a good bit," said Robert Fields, who sells produce and...

Nearly 30,000 tons of tomatoes are trapped in northern Mexico due to a salmonella scare in the United States, the Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fishing and Feeding Ministry of Mexico (Sagarpa) said on Thursday. A total of 2,259 hectares of tomatoes were planted in Sonora, which will produce 28,600 tons of tomatoes for the U.S. market in 2008, said Fernando Miranda Blanco, a representative of the northern state of Sonora in Sagarpa. The situation will turn grave for Mexico's...