FDA Says It's Safe to Eat Tomatoes

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
Thursday, July 17, 2008; 6:00 PM

Copyright © 2008 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.

THURSDAY, July 17 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. health officiaSls on Thursday dropped their warning against eating fresh tomatoes, as the toll in the ongoing salmonella outbreak reached 1,220 confirmed cases, with at least 242 people hospitalized.

"As of today, FDA officials believe that consumers may now enjoy all types of fresh tomatoes available on the domestic market without concern about becoming infected with Salmonella saintpaul bacteria," Dr. David Acheson, associate commissioner for foods at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said during a Thursday afternoon teleconference.

But the warning against jalapeno and serrano peppers remains in effect for the largest foodborne outbreak in the United States in more than a decade, he said.

"We still do not know where the original contamination was," Acheson acknowledged during the teleconference.

Dr. Robert Tauxe, deputy director of the Division of Foodborne, Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the outbreak may be winding down.

"The large salmonella outbreak is continuing with 20 to 30 new cases being reported each day," Tauxe said. "Although it appears that the outbreak is ongoing, and we do not have evidence that it's over, it does appear to have decreased in intensity beginning in mid-June."

When the outbreak began in April, early signs pointed to raw tomatoes -- particularly raw round, red tomatoes, plum or Roma tomatoes -- as the likely source of contamination. But Acheson said the ban was lifted Thursday, because it's highly unlikely that any tomatoes that were on the market at the start of the outbreak remain on the market. The FDA has found no samples of salmonella in tomatoes on any of the farms or in any of the packing houses investigated, he said.

As later cases of salmonella infection came in, more evidence seemed to point to peppers. As a result, the FDA, in cooperation with Mexican officials, has dispatched inspectors to a specific packer in Mexico that receives peppers from several farms, Acheson said.