FDA Probing Tainted Tomatoes

BY TIMOTHY CAMA
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration continues to investigate a surge of salmonella infections believed to come from certain tomatoes, local restaurants and retailers are taking precautions to keep customers safe.

Since mid-April, 145 cases of the salmonella saintpaul infection have been reported, including one in Southwest Virginia, according to Craig Smith, director of the Mount Rogers Health District of the Virginia Department of Health. Smith would release no details of the case, citing the patient’s privacy.
A second Virginia case was in the northern part of the state.

The FDA recommended on Saturday that consumers only purchase raw red plum, raw red roma or raw red round tomatoes grown and harvested in certain states and countries. Restaurants and retailers should sell only those tomatoes as well, the FDA advised.

On Monday, Food City grocery stores pulled some tomatoes off the shelves as a precaution, keeping them quarantined until the FDA releases more information, according to Raymond Stockard, manager of the Euclid Avenue store in Bristol, Va.

“As of right now, all but two of our tomato varieties come from FDA-approved states, countries or vendors,” said Stockard.

Shopper Angela Graul of Bristol, Tenn., who was buying tomatoes at the Euclid Avenue Food City on Monday afternoon, said she wasn’t aware of the salmonella outbreak.

“Are these ones safe?” Graul asked, picking out some yellow tomatoes that came from a farm in Grainger County, Tenn.

Those tomatoes, Stockard said, were grown in a hot house, while the tomatoes suspected of carrying salmonella were grown outdoors. And Tennessee is one of the states the FDA says it’s OK to buy from.

“Customers usually trust us,” said Stockard. “We’re very concerned about food safety.”

At JR’s Produce on Lee Highway, Manager Alice Puckett said she is pretty confident the tomatoes are safe. But customers had been calling throughout the day on Monday to make sure, she said.

“We usually get all of our tomatoes from Florida,” said Puckett, but the latest are from a vendor in Georgia.

She said she didn’t plan to pull any tomatoes from the shelves because the FDA said Georgia tomatoes are safe.

Restaurant chains such as McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, the Outback Steakhouse, Subway and Taco Bell followed the FDA’s recommendation and voluntarily stopped serving some of their tomatoes, the Associated Press reported Monday.

Precautions are being taken at Los Arcos on Linden Drive in Bristol, Va., but tomatoes are still being served, said Manager Hugo Blanco. They are only buying tomatoes as they need them each day, and they are being washed and cooked thoroughly, he said.

The FDA has not found the specific cause or origin of the infections. Saintpaul is a rare serotype of the salmonella bacterium, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Symptoms of salmonella include diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after the infection, according to the CDC. Most people recover without treatment in four to seven days, but some become severely ill.

TIMOTHY CAMA is an intern with the Herald Courier and can be reached at or (276) 645-2568.