Salmonella Outbreak Continues?

It seems that the lowly tomato may not be to blame after all. Truth is, no one knows for sure, and the cases continue to climb. FDA officials are not sure if the record number of cases are due to tomatoes that are newly harvested, germ transfer in storage facilities, or perhaps a different culprit altogether. The tomato continues to remain the main suspect, however:

For now, the FDA continues to urge consumers nationwide to avoid raw red plum, red Roma or red round tomatoes unless they were grown in specific states or countries that FDA has cleared of suspicion. Check FDA's Web site — http://www.fda.gov — for an updated list. Also safe are grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached.

While falling victim to Salmonella would most likely only be extremely unpleasant, it can be deadly for children, the elderly and the immune-deficient. Luckily, the record outbreak is only 810 cases so far (although experts estimate there are many unreported cases for each reported one). In the grand scheme of things, there are probably a lot more things to genuinely be worried about. Just in case, you can always grow your own.

See previous tomato ban post.