Tomatoes May Not Be Only Source of Salmonella Outbreak

By Amanda Gardner and Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporters
Friday, June 27, 2008; 3:00 AM

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FRIDAY, June 27 (HealthDay News) -- Experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now say they're no longer sure that the nationwide salmonella outbreak is due to tomatoes alone, or some other food source.

"Whatever this produce item is that's causing illness is probably still out there making people sick," Dr. Patricia Griffin, chief of the Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch at the CDC, told reporters late Friday at a special press teleconference. She did not say what source other than tomatoes, if any, might be suspected.

The number of people sickened in the outbreak has now jumped to 810 across 36 states, according to the latest CDC numbers presented Friday.

Health officials said the most recent reported case of infection with Salmonella Saintpaul occurred June 15. However, more illnesses may be waiting to be identified: According to experts, it typically takes an average of 16 days before doctors can pinpoint the onset of an infection.

The exact source of the outbreak remains unknown. Tomatoes are still considered the most probable cause, stressed Dr. David Acheson, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's associate commissioner for food protection.

"The most recent case appeared to have onset just 12 days ago, and that raises the question is there something still out there that people are consuming that is leading to illness," he said. "Just because the outbreak is ongoing doesn't mean it can't be the tomatoes. It certainly could be the tomatoes, there's nothing to indicate that we should be looking at anything else," he said.

"We have no evidence that the outbreak is over... I would say that the source of contamination has been ongoing at least through early June and we don't have any evidence that whatever the source is has been removed from the market," Griffin said.

One factor complicating the search for the cause of the outbreak is a common industry practice called "repacking."

"Repacking is a situation in which a supplier or a distributor will repack tomatoes to meet a specific customer's request," Acheson explained. "So, if a customer is wanting small, ripe tomatoes and the supplier does not have a box of small ripe tomatoes, then they will typically go through multiple boxes and pull out ones that meet customers' specifications and repack them. It's a very, very common practice. We've seen reports that it may be as common as 90 percent of tomatoes get repacked, but we don't have confirmation that the number is that high. Obviously this complicates the trace-back," Acheson said.