Posted by Erin Zimmer, July 18, 2008 at 10:45 AM
With salmonella outbreaks slowing down, the FDA reported yesterday that tomatoes are in the clear, but fresh jalapeño and serrano peppers still need attention.
The tomato industry estimates more than $100 million in losses, but according to the FDA, every type of tomato in stores and fields today is safe (and happy). The outbreak peaked between May 20 and June 10 when about 33 people became ill a day, but dropped to an average of 19 people a day between June 11 and June 20.
How can two different types of produce get contaminated with the same rare strain of Salmonella Saintpaul? According to FDA food safety chief Dr. David Acheson, a large farm was perhaps growing tomatoes in one section and peppers in another, but both passed through a communal washing station with contaminated water.
Previously
First Tomatoes, Now Jalapeños; Does the FDA Have Its Act Together?
Tomatoes: Are They Really the Cause of the Salmonella Outbreak?
How Does Salmonella Get Inside Tomatoes?
Posted by Ed Levine, July 7, 2008 at 8:30 AM
First the CDC and the FDA told us that tomatoes were the likely culprit of the salmonella outbreak that has affected nearly a thousand people since it was first reported on April 10. Now, after tomato growers and distributors have lost hundreds of million of dollars destroying and throwing out supposedly tainted product, there are reports that the CDC thinks jalapeños might be the culprit.
Then again, the government is saying it could be one of a half dozen ingredients used to make salsa. It seems to me that the only thing we can definitively conclude from this episode is that our food safety system is irretrievably broken.
According to the Wall Street Journal, "Health officials said the evidence linking jalapeños to the disease is compelling, but are erring on the side of caution before making a public warning."
Didn't these same officials say the same thing about tomatoes? This thing is getting crazy. Now the feds are training their sights on bulb onions, scallions, cilantro, serrano peppers, and jalapeños grown in and shipped from Mexico. According to UPI, the FDA is planning to put a halt on all such shipments starting today.
Continue reading »
Posted by Emily Koh, June 30, 2008 at 7:30 PM
The good news: tomatoes may not be the cause of the salmonella outbreak that began back in April and have since gotten 810 people sick. The bad news: no one is really sure what is.
Tomatoes remain the top suspect and the advice on which ones consumers should avoid hasn't changed, stressed Food and Drug Administration food safety chief Dr. David Acheson.
However, he said it is possible that tomatoes being harvested in states considered safe could be picking up salmonella germs in packing sheds, warehouses or other facilities currently under investigation.
[...] "The source of contamination has been ongoing at least through early June, and we don't have any evidence that whatever the source is, it's been removed from the market," said Dr. Patricia Griffin of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Disease detectives at the CDC in Atlanta are doublechecking their own probes just in case some other type of produce is really the culprit.
This really is turning out to be a sad summer for tomato lovers. As always, it sounds like it's best to exercise caution when consuming tomatoes, or buy them from farmers' markets (or eat the ones that you've grown). The FDA is recommending everyone to stay alert, as the outbreak has shown no signs of disappearing completely—the last reported case was on June 15.
Related
How Does Salmonella Get Inside Tomatoes?
Salmonella Scare Hits the Big Time
Salmonella Scare Halts Tomato Sales
Posted by Emily Koh, June 13, 2008 at 4:00 PM
This summer season is off to a bleak, tomato-less start with the recent salmonella outbreak in certain types of raw red tomatoes. Serious Eater Butrflygirly asked, "Couldn't this be avoided by proper washing? If you wash/clean something properly, all should be good. Right?"
Actually, it wouldn't be as bad if all we had to worry about was fecal matter getting on tomatoes. Although there are a number of ways that salmonella can be transmitted from feces to produce, the surface contaminants are killed in a chlorine bath when tomatoes are delivered to a packing plant.
Of course, this doesn't do much good if the salmonella is inside the tomato, which can occur if there are cuts or scars on the skin, or through a permeable scar where the stem was attached, according to the United Fresh Produce Association. However, researchers are stumped on how just a few infected tomatoes could cause an outbreak of this size. Sounds like that for the time being, it's probably best to steer clear of raw red plum, Roma, and round tomatoes. [via Gourmet]
Posted by Raphael, June 10, 2008 at 3:30 PM
You know something is news when it graces the cover of the New York Post. The main focus of the story is that the burger chains have stopped serving tomatoes on their burgers, and people are upset.
At the Mickey D's on Sixth Avenue between 21st and 22nd streets, Beata Royzman, 17, a La Guardia HS senior, winced as she bit into a cheeseburger that didn't have tomatoes. "It's disgusting," she groaned. "It would be much better with tomatoes...
Previously: Salmonella Scare Halts Tomato Sales
Posted by Hannah Howard, June 9, 2008 at 7:15 PM
These tomatoes may be safe, but others may give you Salmonella poisoning. Beware.
Bountiful grape tomatoes still populate Mickey D's "premium salad," but you're out of luck if you want a tomato slice on your burger.
Reuters reported today that McDonald's and Wal-Mart stores have stopped selling certain tomatoes. Chipotle and Target are also nixing tomatoes to play it safe.
On Saturday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned U.S. consumers that the Salmonella outbreak—145 reported cases, including at least 23 hospitalizations since mid-April—is linked to raw red plum, red Roma, and red round tomatoes. The FDA says that it is safe to eat cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, and tomatoes grown at home. (Salmonella is no fun—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that the illness usually entails 4 to 7 days of diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps.)
The FDA first alerted consumers about the risk on June 3. It has not yet identified the source of the contaminated tomatoes, but it recognizes that the source of the contaminated tomatoes may be limited to a single grower or packer or tomatoes from a specific geographic area—which one remains a mystery. Still, it's advising restaurants and grocery stores to pull tomatoes off their shelves.
Let's hope the FDA finds the culprit before the fast-encroaching tomato season. Tomato slices at McDonald's might taste like crunchy water, but a tomato-free summer would be a small tragedy.
Ask Metafilter answers the question, "What is the relationship between the age of a consumed raw egg and the risk of food poisoning, and what factors influence it - in general, but also specifically to salmonella?"
Posted by Ed Levine, October 15, 2007 at 8:30 AM
I'm not usually all that skittish when it comes to food safety (I do stay away from frozen boxed hamburger on principle), but when I read in the New York Times about people very likely contracting salmonella from eating frozen food that hadn't been microwaved long enough, I got very scared.
According to the story, a 19-month-old baby girl became "so violently ill after eating a Banquet chicken pot pie she passed out and had a seizure, a 104-degree fever, and nearly constant diarrhea" (she had diarrhea for six weeks before she fully recovered). She was not alone. "According to the Centers for Disease Control," the story continues, "165 people in 31 states have become ill with the same strain of salmonella, with the Banquet pies being the likely source."
Why did they get sick? Some of the victims didn't zap their food long enough. Amazingly, Banquet's owner, ConAgra foods, initially tried to put the blame squarely on the victims.
The rest of the story after the jump.
Continue reading »
Posted by Lia Bulaong, April 6, 2007 at 10:16 AM
Eggs are getting safer, says Goody Solomon of the Washington Post: "In 2002, the last year for which numbers are available, 10 percent of reported Salmonella enteritidis outbreaks in the United States were related to eggs, compared with a spike of 80 percent in 2001, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These days, according to the CDC, salmonella outbreaks are more likely to be caused by other foods: juices, salsa, meat, sprouts, fruits, and salads."
Posted by Lia Bulaong, March 16, 2007 at 3:24 PM
eGullet's Steven Shaw has a strong op-ed in the New York Times today arguing for a more rational response to rats in restaurants than the current hysteria:
Rats move freely from building to building: adult rats can, like the superhero Plastic Man, compress themselves to fit through spaces as narrow as half an inch. Their mobility makes them as easy to miss as they are to find. A rat-free city is no more possible than a germ-free or risk-free society. We can hope to manage rodents, roaches and other intruders down to an acceptable level, but they’ve always accompanied, and may outlast, human civilization.
Rats in restaurants, while distasteful, are more a distraction than a disaster for public health. As reported in this newspaper, flies — each one a potential airborne disease carrier — are a more dire threat. So are cows, sheep and pigs, whose excrement can contaminate food at its source with E. coli, as was recently believed to be the case with California spinach and with vegetables served at Taco Bell. And to echo the punch line of many a nature documentary, the greatest threat to restaurant sanitation is man: salmonella, for example, is typically initiated or spread through improper hand-washing, food handling or cooking.
Posted by Lia Bulaong, February 15, 2007 at 10:28 AM
"The Food and Drug Administration in Washington warns consumers NOT to eat certain jars of Peter Pan or Great Value peanut butter due to the risk of contamination. The F-D-A says the affected jars have a product code on the lid that begins with the number "21-11." Check your shelves, please!
