FDA: It's OK To Eat Tomatoes Again

Salmonella Warning Lifted Amid Signs That The Outbreak Is Slowing

(CBS/ AP)  It's OK to eat all kinds of tomatoes again, the U.S. government declared Thursday - lifting its salmonella warning on the summer favorites amid signs that the record outbreak, while not over, may finally be slowing.

Hot peppers still get a caution: The people most at risk of salmonella - including the elderly and people with weak immune systems - should avoid fresh jalapenos and serranos, and any dishes that may contain them such as fresh salsa, federal health officials advised.

Investigators still don't know what caused the salmonella outbreak. Dr. Robert Tauxe of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there have been a total of 1,220 total victims in 42 states, reports CBS News.

Tauxe said the outbreak is "ongoing, but has decreased in intensity."

But Thursday's move doesn't mean that tomatoes harvested in the spring are cleared. It just means that the tomatoes in fields and stores today are safe to eat, said Dr. David Acheson, the Food and Drug Administration's food safety chief.

"This is not saying that anybody was absolved," Acheson said. But, "as of today, FDA officials believe that consumers may now enjoy all types of fresh tomatoes available without concern of becoming infected with salmonella Saintpaul," the outbreak strain.

The outbreak has dealt a serious blow to the tomato industry, reports CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella. Growers put their losses at $100 million and sales are down as much as 40 percent.

Early on, there was good evidence linking certain raw tomatoes to the sick, Acheson stressed. Yet inspectors haven't found the outbreak strain of salmonella Saintpaul on any farms, in suspect areas of south Florida and parts of Mexico, where they've managed to trace tomatoes thought eaten by patients.

As the outbreak stretched into last month, more evidence emerged against fresh jalapenos - the FDA's hottest lead for now. The agency sent inspectors to a Mexican packing house that supplied peppers linked to a cluster of those illnesses.

Also still on the suspect list is fresh cilantro.

The CDC charted the dates when the ill say they fell sick. Between April and mid-May, illnesses steadily rose. Between May 20 and June 10, the outbreak hit a plateau, with about 33 people a day becoming ill. From June 11 to June 20, that dropped to 19 people a day becoming ill.

Those are the latest available statistics, because it can take two weeks or longer for the CDC to receive confirmation that someone who is sick actually has the implicated salmonella strain.

For every salmonella case the CDC confirms, it estimates there are 30 to 40 more that go undocumented, perhaps because people don't see a doctor or undergo the right testing.

How could two different types of produce be contaminated with what is a rare type of salmonella?

One possibility is that a large farm grew tomatoes in one section and peppers in another, and both went through a common washing station with contaminated water, Acheson said.

"Bear in mind this is not following the trail of a regular old produce outbreak," he said. "There's something else going on here that is a little unusual. You need to think outside the box."

The tomato industry - which held an unprecedented meeting with FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach and other officials on Monday - welcomed the announcement.

"We have long been confident that Florida's tomatoes were not associated with the salmonella Saintpaul outbreak," said the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, whose farmers are deciding whether to start planting for a fall tomato harvest. "Tomatoes from Florida's growing regions have been gone from the marketplace for weeks, so they could not have been the source of the contamination."

In Monday's meeting, the industry urged FDA to share more details of its investigation so producers could offer more possibly helpful information. If the sick were more likely to fall ill from chain restaurants than mom-and-pop establishments, for instance, the industry could help point FDA toward different lines of suppliers, explained Kathy Means of the Produce Marketing Association. The FDA promised to consider the request.

[whymayiask]

That picture is freaky...

[gheemaster38]

Dosent that guy look like the mean Burt from Sesame Street?

[rushman71]

"FDA: It''s OK To Eat Tomatoes Again"

Duh, duh, duuuuuh!!! Just don''t eat the lettuce!!!

[rushman71]

gheemaster38: LMAO!!!

[megamanx1-2009]

"Salmonella Warning Lifted Amid Signs That The Outbreak Is Slowing"


The outbreak is slowing because nobody has been eating tomatoes...duh.

[ciitzenusa]

So, why is that scientist showing us all a bag with his nuts in it?

[mab59]

Yeah, I feel R E A L good about eating tomatoes again. The government says it''s ok, but MAY be slowing? They don''t know what caused it and "...it doesn''t mean tomatoes are cleared".... If that isn''t wishy washy response that leave me feeling cold on tomatoes, I don''t know what is. It''s like they are saying it''s kinda ok, but not really. The safety of our food supply sources makes me want to dig up a patch of dirt in my back yard and take a class on vegetable growing 101.

[vnveteran72]

FDA: It''s OK To Eat Tomatoes Again*
Salmonella Warning Lifted Amid Signs That The Outbreak Is Slowing

*(but watch out for potatos, lettuce, celery, radishes, cucumbers, onions, melons, grapes, and ''nanners)

[iuphockey12]

WHO CARES..

[bajajohn1]

Since a great number of tomatoes are imported from Mexico all they had to was check with Mexico for salmonella cases down here. Caused a lot of losses. I never stopped eating tomatoes, use them every day down here in salsas, and for cooking. Oh, well. Canada doesn''t have a problem and a lot their tomaotoes are from Mexico. Must have something to do with raising the price. By the way green peppers are also fine, eat them everyday. A day without chili peppers is like a day without sunshine.

[wakeup60]

"TOMATOES WERE "NEVER" THE PROBLEM...HOW COULD THEY HAVE BEEN A PROBLEM ....WHEN THEY COULDN''T FIND TOMATOES HAVING IT IN THE FIRST PLACE! THEN IT WAS CILANTRO...THEN IT WAS PARSLEY...THEN IT WAS LETTUCE...ONIONS...BLAH, BLAH, BLAH...WASH IT...DUMBEEEEEE... BEFORE YOU EAT ANYTHING...AND WASH YOUR BLOODY HANDS...AFTER THE POTTY...CHILDREN...THATS WHERE IT CAME FROM IN THE FIRST PLACE!
HAVEN''T GIVEN UP TOMATOES FROM THE BEGINNING...THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL THIS YEAR...IT''S A BIGGER SHAME THAT THEY WASTED MILLIONS OF POUNDS BY THIS...THE FARMERS...DID THEY HAVE TO EAT THE LOSS ON THEM-DOES ANYONE KNOW OUT THERE!!

[ubrew12]

What? The tomatoes being held in that photo? No thanks!

[tibu987]

I lived in Mexico for many years.
The Mexican agricultural worker defecates in the field, using leaves or stones to clean himself thus introducing the salmonella, e.coli., etc. into the food chain as he/she picks the product. The various micro sized bacteria are found under his fingernails and then passed along.
There is no doubt in my mind that this is how the various bacteria are passed on.
It can be within the product as the plants are attended to in their young form or on the outside from handling.

[randynason]

Yeah... It''s OK to eat tomatoes again until next time when it may well be spinach or peanut butter. Eating healthy food these days is a lot like playing Russian roulette. I think the FDA went out to lunch and stayed there, this past adminstration.
By the way, why is that mad scientist holding up that bag of bloody, unidentified organs? Are they cloning Republicans, now?

[nssherlock1]

Dr. Evil can keep THOSE tomatoes.

[greeneyes222]

It''s ok to eat tomatoes again, but still no source for the infection?

Weak, FDA, weak. We could have done that without you.

[ubrew12]

"FDA: It''s OK To Eat Tomatoes Again"
Tomatoes: We beg to differ!

[wardoglrs]

Have congress eat try them out first. After all isnt it there duty to protect us...lol

[formrusmcsgt]

I never stopped.

I grow my own.

Much better than the krap they sell in the supermarkets.

Mine actually TASTE like tomatoes!

[wardoglrs]

Would anyone trust that guy in the pic...lol.

[timdgrim]

Can we get a Acting Regional Director of the FDA that DOESN''T look like a Nazi in this picture holding something that looks like it''s left over from Hitler''s fridge?

[needed2bsaid]

I grow my family''s tomatoes. Just pinched the first one today and cut it up into a summer salad. MMMM-GOOOD!

LET THEM EAT CAKE!!!

[rushlimpdrug]

Frauline, you will buy these tomatoes! !

[sistatee-2009]

Nice of the FDA to catch the tomato problem AFTER people got sick, like the banking regulators noticing that the mortgage lenders were all bankrupt AFTER they went bankrupt. We are so majorly screwed in this country.

If history has taught us anything it is to take the opposite position of the FDA.

[ubrew12]

FDA: "It''s OK To Eat Tomatoes Again"
Is it OK to throw Tomatoes?

[formrusmcsgt]

I grow my family''''s tomatoes. Just pinched the first one today and cut it up into a summer salad. MMMM-GOOOD!

Posted by needed2bsaid at 07:39 PM : Jul 17, 2008

You must be a yankee.

I''ve been picking since May.....

[stn_sage]

With limited to no respect for the FDA, I''ll continue to be weary about what I eat, thank you!

As SistaTee says, they and banking regulators didn''t catch problems until long after the problems occurred!

The unspoken insinuation being, they SHOULD HAVE!

Inspectors should be taking samples at the border and banking regulators should be making surprise checks to see that the ''books'' are in order! And, as a result-

Conditions in society are FAR worse than they should be! And IT IS Bush''s and the GOP''s fault! But---the Democrats didn''t do anything to stop them AND THEY SHOULD have!

[skeezix06]

How dumb are we supposed to be? They haven''t found the source but the food supply is safe, so eat and be happy? Are you guys out of your minds?

Oddly enough I can remember when we had an FDA that actually had the manpower to maintain a safe food supply.

[daysrnumbrd]

ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES 2:

Plot line...

...well, not like there was one in the first movie, but this time... the "heros" that are supposed to save the day are just a half-dozen FDA biologists...

...the only government officials left after the budget cuts to fund the tax cut programs.

[oneworldusa]

People are dying of hunger and ''tainted tomatoes'' and Spain wastes 117 tons of tomatoes during its annual tomato-fest.

[drinuk]

Naturally this poison has nothing at all to do with Frankenstien GM crops or pesticides or even herbicides and if it did the FDA would not divulge it so as to harm their paymasters, Big Chem and Big Pharma. The FDA are as Bent as a two dollar note and unfit for purpose.

[drinuk]

Do you ever wonder why the Bee population is deminishing at an alarming rate ? When they go there will be a food shortage of serious proportions. GM crops are the reason behind the so-called mysteries, look no further.

[needed2bsaid]

You must be a yankee.

I''''ve been picking since May.....


Posted by formrusmcsgt


Nahhh, not a yankee just got a late start.

1. The FDA cannot fulfill its mission because its scientific base has eroded and its scientific organizational structure is weak.
2. The FDA cannot fulfill its mission because its scientific workforce does not have sufficient capacity and capability.
3. The FDA cannot fulfill its mission because its information technology (IT) infrastructure is inadequate.
4.The FDA does not have the capacity to ensure the safety of food for the nation.
5. The development of medical products based on %u201Cnew science%u201D cannot be adequately regulated by the FDA.
6. There is insufficient capacity in modeling, risk assessment, and analysis.
7. The FDA science agenda lacks a coherent structure and vision, as well as effective coordination and prioritization.
8. The FDA has substantial recruitment and retention challenges.
9. The FDA has an inadequate and ineffective program for scientist performance.
10. The FDA has not taken sufficient advantage of external and internal collaborations.
11. The FDA lacks the information science capability and information infrastructure to fulfill its regulatory mandate.
12. The FDA cannot provide the information infrastructure support to regulate products based on new science.

Most appalling is the FDA%u2019s own finding that it %u201Ccannot even keep up with the advances in science.%u201D