Groceries, restaurants pull tomatoes after salmonella outbreak
While public health officials here wait for test results to see if a salmonella outbreak associated with raw tomatoes made a local resident ill, many grocery store owners and restaurateurs are pulling tomatoes off the shelves and from their menus.
Judy Aubey, a nursing supervisor with Public Health Madison and Dane County, said that her agency is aware of one possible local case of salmonella saintpaul, a rare form of food poisoning thought to be carried on red roma, red plum or round field grown tomatoes.
"We have one suspected case, and we're waiting for results from the Wisconsin State Department of Hygiene," Aubey said. She said tests will be back within a week.
Over 167 people nationwide have become ill since April with the disease. The Center for Disease Control has reported that 3 cases have been confirmed in Wisconsin, and 27 in Illinois. People have become ill in 17 states, the CDC said, with 56 cases in Texas and 39 in New Mexico.
Although at least 23 people have been hospitalized nationwide, no deaths have been reported from the illness which typically causes diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days. The elderly or those with impaired immune systems are at greatest risk for severe infections.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has alerted consumers nationwide to avoid raw red roma tomatoes, red plum tomatoes or round red field grown slicing tomatoes that do not come from approved sources. Salsa and other products made from raw tomatoes are also part of the alert.
Cherry and grape tomatoes, home grown tomatoes and tomatoes sold on the vine are not affected, and the USDA has identified 28 states, including Wisconsin, that have not been associated with the outbreak. Tomatoes grown in Puerto Rico, Belgium, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel and the Netherlands have also been deemed safe.
Because it is difficult in many cases to identify precisely where tomato supplies have come from, many grocery stores and restaurants across the country and in this area have pulled all roma, plum and round slicing tomatoes from their shelves and menus.
At Copps food stores, only grape and cherry tomatoes and tomatoes on the vine were on the shelves this morning.
Tim Metcalfe, owner and manager at Metcalfe's Sentry at Hilldale said his store is also selling only tomatoes on the approved list from the USDA.
"If we couldn't verify the tomatoes were from an approved source, we pulled them," Metcalfe said. "We're hoping they get a handle on what the exact source of the problem is soon but until then we'll only be selling the tomatoes on the safe list."
Becky Freitag, manager of the Subway restaurant on Regent Street, said she removed tomatoes from her store Saturday night, and is hoping for a new, approved supply by next Monday.
She said health and diet conscious students initially grumbled about no tomatoes for their sub sandwiches.
"When we explained the situation, their reaction was pretty understanding," she said.
Amanda Sauer, Madison's Whole Foods marketing manager, said her customers had also responded well to the tomato shortages, which began on June 5 at her store.
"Since then, we've only had approved products, and tomatoes from approved areas. I feel lucky we have a system where we can pull things quickly. It's incredible how fast these things can spread," Sauer said.
For more information on the salmonella outbreak involving fresh tomatoes, go to www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/tomatoes.html.
Associated Press
Plum tomatoes, like this one, are on the list named by the FDA that may be linked to the salmonella outbreak.
