Salmonella traced to tomatoes

Nov 6 2006

Health officials in the U.S. say that the recent outbreak of Salmonella food poisoning there probably came tomatoes which were served in restaurants.

The outbreak has to date sickened 183 people in 21 states and Canada, and 22 of those were admitted to hospital.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the outbreak is now over and there is no longer a threat.

The CDC's Dr. Christopher Braden, Chief of Outbreak Response and Surveillance, says tomatoes eaten in restaurants were identified as the cause of the outbreak, but the evidence did not point to any single restaurant or type of restaurant, but appeared to be across the board.

Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems; it can cause fever, bloody diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now trying to find where the tomatoes came from and are working closely with the states of Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, as most of the cases were centered around these three states.

In recent months outbreaks of foodborne illness have hit the news in the US with August and September seeing outbreaks of E. coli bacteria.

The source of the outbreak was eventually traced to baby spinach from a farm in California's Salinas valley.

The outbreak was serious and sickened 300 people and killed three.

The outbreaks have prompted the FDA to advise consumers to reduce the risk of foodborne illness from fresh produce by washing it before use, making sure it is cold and keeping hands and food preparation utensils clean.

Outbreaks of salmonella in tomatoes are not uncommon, an outbreak in 2004 was linked to tomatoes and sickened more than 400 people.

According to the CDC there are 76 million cases of foodborne disease in the United States each year and 5,000 people die from such infections.