By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is still trying to trace back the source of salmonella-contaminated tomatoes that have been distributed across the country, and is advising that the outbreak is ongoing.

“The trace back investigation continues,” said David Atcheson, associate commissioner for Foods at the FDA in a briefing for reporters last week. “We did become aware of a cluster of cases in one specific geographic location, and we are focusing on that fairly heavily.”

He pointed out that the cluster, which involved nine cases of salmonella poisoning, gives the FDA a good lead to do a trace back investigation. He also said this cluster does not involve a particular chain of restaurants or a grocery store chain.

The Chicago Department of Public Health last week reported nine cases of salmonella in that immediate area from tomatoes consumed at a couple of restaurants. Atcheson would not confirm, however, this is the same cluster.

In another briefing for reporters later in the week, Dr. Robert Tauxe of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) emphasized the outbreak is ongoing.

“CDC is continuing to receive reports of ill people in the outbreak of Salmonella Saintpaul infections,” he said. “The most recent case that’s been reported to us had the beginning of their illness on June 5. We do not believe the outbreak is over.”

Roma, plum and red round tomatoes are okay to consume if they are from the areas that have been excluded as possible points of origin of the bacterial outbreak. Those areas are listed on the FDA website. If the tomato isn’t one that’s been identified as safe to eat and the consumer can’t identify where it’s from, then the FDA is advising that the tomato be thrown out.

According to the FDA website, consumers unsure of where the tomatoes in their home are from are encouraged to contact the store or place of purchase for that information. Also, commercially processed tomatoes, such as canned, haven’t been linked to the outbreak and are safe to eat.

“Grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and the tomatoes that are still attached to the vine when you pick them up at the store have not been linked with the outbreak and therefore, obviously, are okay to consume,” Atcheson said.

Right now, the FDA doesn’t know exactly where the salmonella originated, but it probably came from Florida or Mexico. At this time of year, most tomatoes originate from these areas. In a briefing last week, Atcheson said the source location of the contamination might never be determined.

“Tomatoes are one of the hardest things we ever have to trace back. We may not ever know the farm where these things came from,” he said.

Right now a program is underway in Florida to certify that tomatoes are from an excluded area. According to Atcheson, tomatoes from Florida that are in circulation may be from a different area than those that were harvested a month ago. The harvest in central and southern Florida ended more than a month ago and the harvest in northern Florida is taking place right now.

Tomatoes have a shelf life of only a few weeks, he said. Atcheson also pointed out that tomatoes from Baja California, Mexico – which are currently being harvested – are safe to eat, since it would be extremely unlikely they would have the same strain of salmonella implicated in the current outbreak. He also said the FDA doesn’t have the legal authority to ban tomatoes from Mexico without knowing where the salmonella originated.

Atcheson said many other places that are on the FDA’s exclusion list have now begun harvesting tomatoes, but that just because a location isn’t on the exclusion list doesn’t mean there’s a high likelihood that salmonella-contaminated tomatoes originate there. States get on the list by telling the FDA that they began harvesting tomatoes after the outbreak began. If the FDA determines this is true, they are put on the list.

Since mid-April, there have been 385 reported cases of salmonella poisoning nationwide caused by Salmonella Saintpaul, an uncommon form. The marked increase in reported cases isn’t because of a large increase in actual cases, but because states are stepping up their surveillance. At least 48 hospitalizations have been reported so far. None of the tomatoes tested to date have turned up positive for salmonella.

For the latest official updates on the salmonella outbreak, go to the FDA website at www.fda.gov