Update on Tomato Recall

In an effort to keep our readers safe and healthy, Health News strives to provide the latest developments on current recalls and alerts. We now have new information on an article we posted on June 4 warning readers of an outbreak of Saintpaul Salmonella linked to raw tomatoes. At the time of that post, there had been 57 confirmed cases of the illness, including 17 hospitalizations, in Texas and New Mexico. There were also 30 reports from seven other states which were being investigated.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now expanded its warning to consumers nationwide. Sixteen states are now reporting illnesses linked to the outbreak. They include: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. Since mid-April, there have been at least 145 cases, including 23 hospitalizations. To date, no fatalities have been reported.

The outbreak has been linked to consumption of certain raw red plum, raw red Roma, raw red round tomatoes, and products containing them. The FDA recommends that consumers not eat these tomatoes unless they have been "grown and harvested from states, countries, and territories that have NOT been associated with this outbreak." The agency is also recommending that food service operators, restaurants and retailers not offer these tomatoes unless they are from sources not associated with the outbreak. Consumers who have tomatoes on hand and are at all unsure of where the tomatoes were grown or harvested are encouraged to contact the store where the tomatoes was purchased.

Consumers should continue to eat the following types of tomatoes, which are not likely to be the source of this SaintPaul Salmonella outbreak:

• Cherry tomatoes
• Grape tomatoes
• Tomatoes sold with the vine still attached
• Tomatoes grown at home

Health News will keep you updated as information becomes available. You can also visit www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/tomatoes.html#retailer for further developments.