Tomato troubles
My blog entry last week waxing rhapsodic about cucumber and tomato salad was unfortunately timed, considering the recent tomato-salmonella outbreak. According to a U.S. News & World Report article posted today, 228 people in 23 states have become sick from eating tomatoes tainted with salmonella, and, more troubling, the source of the contamination is still unclear. So far, no cases have been reported in North Carolina.
The tomatoes implicated are raw red plum, red Roma and round red tomatoes. Types of tomatoes not linked to any illnesses are cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes and tomatoes with the vine still attached. Tomatoes grown in North Carolina are among those that have been “cleared” of causing the contamination. You can read more about the outbreak at the FDA’s Web site.
Many restaurants and stores have pulled all or some tomatoes from their menus and produce aisle, among them McDonald’s, Burger King, Panera, Taco Bell, Moe’s, Kroger and Winn Dixie.
This is yet another reason for me to want my own tomatoes to hurry up and ripen, because I certainly do love tomatoes. It doesn’t seem like summer to me without fresh local tomatoes. And it’s another reason why it’s a good idea to buy locally and pay attention to where your food is coming from. If you know where that tomato was grown and that it’s from a grower or region you can trust, you can be fairly confident that it’s “safe” to eat.
Readers, has this outbreak kept you from eating tomatoes altogether, or are you fine sticking to the “safe” kinds?
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