Posted on 06/08/2008 3:49:11 AM PDT by Pharmboy
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Salmonella food poisoning first linked to uncooked tomatoes has spread to 16 states, federal health officials said Saturday.
Investigations by the health departments of Texas and New Mexico and the federal Indian Health Service have tied 56 cases in Texas and 55 in New Mexico to raw, uncooked tomatoes.
“We’re seeing a steady increase,” said Deborah Busemeyer, the communications director for the New Mexico Department of Health.
An additional 50 people have been sickened by the same salmonella infection in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
Investigators are trying to determine if raw tomatoes are also responsible for the illnesses in those states, said Arleen Porcell, a spokeswoman for the C.D.C.
The source of the tomatoes responsible for the illnesses has not been determined.
At least 23 people have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported, Ms. Porcell said.
The rarity of the salmonella strain and the number of illnesses “suggest that implicated tomatoes are distributed throughout the country,” she said.
Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached and homegrown tomatoes are likely not the source of the outbreak, Ms. Busemeyer said.
Salmonella, snip...usually is transmitted to humans who eat food contaminated with animal feces.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Glad to hear a door opened for ya.
Perseverance.
Link?
Factoid?
I eat tomatoes like mad.
If we get a good local produce year I eat them for a month straight as my primary food.
Now the last time my GI doctor went up with the big rubber hose and took pics for my educational self care he did not go into a shock and awe over tomato skins.
And if ya really want to get graphic........
what’s the deal? how did sal get all over the damaters?
(grin): For all you and the doctor know, your entire GI tract may be one long tomato skin protecting you from ulcers and invasive bugs.
Role of soil, crop debris, and a plant pathogen in Salmonella enterica contamination of tomato plants.
Barak JD, Liang AS. Produce Safety and Microbiology Research Unit, Western Regional Research Center (WRRC), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Albany, California, USA. jbarak@pw.usda.gov
BACKGROUND: In the U.S., tomatoes have become the most implicated vehicle for produce-associated Salmonellosis with 12 outbreaks since 1998. Although unconfirmed, trace backs suggest pre-harvest contamination with Salmonella enterica. Routes of tomato crop contamination by S. enterica in the absence of direct artificial inoculation have not been investigated.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: This work examined the role of contaminated soil, the potential for crop debris to act as inoculum from one crop to the next, and any interaction between the seedbourne plant pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria and S. enterica on tomato plants. Our results show S. enterica can survive for up to six weeks in fallow soil with the ability to contaminate tomato plants. We found S. enterica can contaminate a subsequent crop via crop debris; however a fallow period between crop incorporation and subsequent seeding can affect contamination patterns. Throughout these studies, populations of S. enterica declined over time and there was no bacterial growth in either the phyllosphere or rhizoplane. The presence of X. campestris pv. vesicatoria on co-colonized tomato plants had no effect on the incidence of S. enterica tomato phyllosphere contamination. However, growth of S. enterica in the tomato phyllosphere occurred on co-colonized plants in the absence of plant disease.
CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: S. enterica contaminated soil can lead to contamination of the tomato phyllosphere. A six week lag period between soil contamination and tomato seeding did not deter subsequent crop contamination. In the absence of plant disease, presence of the bacterial plant pathogen, X. campestris pv. vesicatoria was beneficial to S. enterica allowing multiplication of the human pathogen population. Any event leading to soil contamination with S. enterica could pose a public health risk with subsequent tomato production, especially in areas prone to bacterial spot disease.
That's good to know, because, except for the slice on the occasional fast food burger, those are the only kinds of tomatoes that I eat.
Probably because most produce was grown locally, not shipped across the country so readily. And if it WERE shipped that far, it was usually so expensive, most families didn't have it regularly.
Even as recently as 25 years ago, most places didn't have produce from all over the world, like regular supermarkets have now. I remember going to a produce place in NJ, where you could get almost anything you wanted, any time of the year, but you paid DEARLY for fresh strawberries and tomatoes in the dead of winter, so it wasn't something most families ate, on a regular basis.
I like those hanging down tomato plants, though. I'd love to have a couple of those, and some pepper plants done the same way, on a patio, or deck.
*snort* Wise Granny!
Never fear...I’m dead heading my hanging basket on a daily basis. :`)
My late m-i-l LOVED tomatoes, and had a HUGH garden at their home in the MS Delta. BEST tomatoes I have ever tasted! She ate a tomato sandwich every day, when they were growing, and said the only good use for bread was putting tomatoes in for a sandwich.
and of course tomatoes only go on white bread. With Dukes mayo.
I think she used Blue Plate mayo; whatever was least expensive at the Piggly Wiggly. ;o)
Excellent point, thank you!
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