Previously, Six L’s of Immokalee, Florida announced that it was voluntarily recalling a single lot of grape tomatoes, because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. The product was distributed to North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, California, Georgia and Canada, and reached consumers through retail
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Florida Tomato Safety Law Passes House – to Governor
A quick update on a story I posted on before. The tomato food safety bill that passed the Florida State Senate in March has now passed the house, and is now headed to Governor Crist for signature. It was reported that the bill continues to receive virtually unanimous support:
The measure, which was written
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New Florida Tomato Safety Legislation- Good for Business
In the summer of 2008 over 1,400 persons were confirmed ill with Salmonella, eventually traced to jalapeno peppers grown in Mexico. In the early stages of the investigation, FDA and other health officials raised concerns that the implicated product might instead be tomatoes. As a result, U.S. tomato growers, particularly in Florida, were hard…
Multistate Outbreaks of Salmonella Infections Associated with Raw Tomatoes Eaten in Restaurants — United States, 2005–2006
During 2005–2006, four large multistate outbreaks of Salmonella infections associated with eating raw tomatoes at restaurants occurred in the United States. The four outbreaks resulted in 459 culture-confirmed cases of salmonellosis in 21 states (Figure). This report describes the epidemiologic, environmental, and laboratory investigations into these four outbreaks by state and local health departments, national food safety agencies, and CDC. The results of these investigations determined that the tomatoes had been supplied to restaurants either whole or precut from tomato fields in Florida, Ohio, and Virginia. These recurrent, large, multistate outbreaks emphasize the need to prevent Salmonella contamination of tomatoes early in the production and packing process. Current knowledge of mechanisms for tomato contamination and methods of eradication of Salmonella in tomatoes is incomplete; the agricultural industry, food safety agencies, and public health agencies should make tomato-safety research a priority.Continue Reading Multistate Outbreaks of Salmonella Infections Associated with Raw Tomatoes Eaten in Restaurants — United States, 2005–2006
Sheetz Salmonella case gets its day in court
Today’s Altoona Mirror reported on a hearing yesterday regarding the Sheetz Salmonella outbreak of 2004. At yesterday’s hearing, a Blair County Judge dismissed eight defendants from the case, stating that Sheetz and the company who supplied Salmonella-contamianted tomatoes to Sheetz, Coronet Foods, had not provided enough proof to implicate one or more Coronet suppliers as…
Tomato growers ask for regulation
Unlike the California leafy greens industry, which introduced a marketing agreement to avoid legislation and regulations over food safety issues, the Florida tomato industry is asking to be regulated, according to an article in the Palm Beach Post:
But in what could be the first successful move to establish enforceable standards, the Florida tomato-growing
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Salmonella Linked to Restaurant Tomatoes
Fox News reports that contaminated fresh tomatoes served in restaurants were the cause of a recent salmonella outbreak that sickened dozens of people in 21 states, health officials said Friday.
The outbreak, now over, sickened at least 183 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There were no reports of deaths, although…