The recent outbreak of salmonellosis from tomatoes has officially affected 228 people in twenty-three different states. I say “officially” because there may be other cases that were not reported. Some experts estimate that for every reported case of food poisoning, another forty go unreported.
Look back at the next most recent veggie problem: the contaminated spinach in 2006. The FDA was aided in that case by patients who still had bags of spinach with UPC codes that led from the store to the supplier and eventually to the field where the greens had been contaminated.
Now think about tomatoes. Most raw tomatoes don’t come in a bag with a UPC. Most consumers don’t know what part of the world grew their tomatoes. Do you know where your tomatoes came from? I eat them all the time and I have no idea.
That’s just one factor in why the Food and Drug Administration is so slow in tracking down the source of the contaminated tomatoes. Human memory is another. The FDA is relying on patients to remember what kind of tomatoes they ate before they got sick — raw red plum, raw Roma, or raw round tomatoes.
Time is another delaying factor. Tomatoes have a three to four week shelf life once they’re picked. If the earliest known case of salmonella was reported on April 10th, the culprits may have been picked in mid-March. The latest known case was reported on June 1st, from tomatoes picked in May. Once a person eats a tainted tomato, it can take up to three weeks to get sick, get diagnosed, and undergo testing to see if it really is salmonella saintpaul — the particular strain of bacteria to blame for the current tomato problem.
The FDA is clearing regions based on harvest and sale records. You can check www.fda.gov for the latest list of safe tomatoes.
So why single out Florida and Mexico? Go back to those harvest and sale records. Those two areas were supplying most of the tomatoes sold in April and May in states where people got sick.