US checks if tomatoes caused Salmonella outbreak

[Viva_La_Revolution]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — As salmonella cases continue to climb, the government is checking if tainted tomatoes really are to blame for the record outbreak — or if the problem is with another ingredient, or a warehouse that is contaminating newly harvested tomatoes.

The widening outbreak — with 810 people confirmed ill — means whatever is making people sick could very well still be on the market, federal health officials warned on Friday.

Tomatoes remain the top suspect and the advice on which ones consumers should avoid hasn't changed, stressed Food and Drug Administration food safety chief Dr. David Acheson.

However, he said it is possible that tomatoes being harvested in states considered safe could be picking up salmonella germs in packing sheds, warehouses or other facilities currently under investigation.



Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gGU3mgxShkCMpPha2MrBUbWdKzdgD91IMC100

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I can't wait till my garden really starts producing... it's too scary wondering what could be on the produce I get at the store.

..on a brighter note, our dinner salad tonight was all homegrown, and the strawberries I added to my Grape Nuts this morning were divine. :)

[Fridays Child]

1. Just whipped up a pot of fresh cream of tomato soup from the tomatoes in my garden.

Mm mm good! Campbell's ain't got nothin' on this!

[rwheeler31]

2. How do tou make that, and how long does it take?

[Fridays Child]

9. Check post # 8.

:hi:

[JeanGrey]

5. I'd love your receipe.

[Fridays Child]

8. Have you ever had one of those kitchen moments where you just start throwing stuff in a pot?

This happens to me, once in awhile, and, sometimes (like today), the results make me wish I'd taken the time to record everything I did.

Basically, I buzzed about six medium fresh tomatoes in the food processor, along with about 1/2 tablespoon of minced garlic, about 1/2 a chopped onion, salt, fresh pepper, about a cup of cream, and about two teaspoons of Italian herbs. Then, I put it all in a pot and started heating it up. As it got hot, I stirred in about 3/4 of a bottle of Knudsen's veggie juice and let the whole thing simmer for 20 minutes.

It came out tasting similar to traditional cream of tomato soup only much fresher than the canned stuff. If you want some zing, I think it would spice up, nicely, with the addition of hot sauce, A-1, Worcestershire sauce, or your favorite salsa.

I didn't skin the tomatoes but I suppose you could. And I added cream only because I happened to have a little on hand and I wanted to use it up. I think half and half or milk would probably work. Also, I think a blender would mash everything up just as well as a food processor.

I'm pretty sure that's everything.

[JeanGrey]

13. Thanks!

[rainbow4321]

3. One of the reasons I worry about the local places still putting tomatoes on food

Our area's fast food places have put signs up in the windows..changed their signs, actually. The initial signs explained why they were NOT using tomatoes and then they were all replaced with "we are now using tomatoes ONLY from FDA approved sources".
Ok..so HOW many times have we seen REVISED FDA lists over the past year or so?? As in what may be an FDA approved source **today** may very well be announced as another source for the contamination in tomorrow's headlines??
Oooooops..and what will people get in return (besides potentially the disease/illness), an apology???
Makes you hope this is not the work of tomato lobbyists (or whatever you would call big donors who are losing money due to this scare).

[uppityperson]

4. probably tomato related but don't know hhow? we have almost ripe tomatoes too

Up here in the Pacific northwet, cool spring weather has yielded a bumper crop of slugs BUT the tomato plant we've brought inside the last 2 winters to be able to ripen the green ones flowered starting jan and we have almost ripe ones now. I plan on pruning it back severly and letting it go again.

Not being able to figure out what is causing this is not causing much confidence in those who are supposed to be keeping an eye on food.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. I've had surprisingly little trouble with slugs myself...

probably because I was so late getting the garden in because of the weather. Lost 1 broccoli, and a few radishes this past week, but I put out a tiny bit of slug bait and no more damage so far.

I have 2 tomatoes in pots, I'll try bringing them inside in the fall... Gram loves her tomatoes! Thanks for the tip. :)

[Viva_La_Revolution]

7. Update: Salmonella Tomato Outbreak Biggest Ever

Source of Largest Salmonella Outbreak in U.S. History May Never Be Found, Says FDA
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Health NewsReviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MDJune 27, 2008 --

The salmonella outbreak in tomatoes isn't over and it's already the largest salmonella outbreak the CDC has ever tracked, in terms of lab-confirmed reported illness.

Since the outbreak began in April, the CDC has gotten reports of 810 people in 36 states and Washington, D.C., sickened by Salmonella saintpaul, the outbreak's rare strain of salmonella.

The most recent onset of illness was June 15, and that may not be the last case, since the CDC gets reports of illness about 16 days after an illness starts, says Patricia Griffin, MD, chief of the CDC's enteric diseases epidemiology branch.

Griffin notes that in 1985, a salmonella outbreak in milk sickened more than 16,000 people, but those cases weren't all confirmed by lab tests, unlike the number of cases in the current salmonella tomato outbreak.

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/food-poisoning/news/20080627/salmonella-tomato-outbreak-biggest-ever

[Karenina]

10. What am I missing here???

I've always believed that if you WASH the tomatoes before eating them, that would reduce a host of possible ills. And ALSO that cooking kills salmonella. I DON'T GET THIS AT ALL. :shrug:

[WhiteTara]

11. me too, I'm creating a year round

square foot garden in my greenhouse.

[JeanGrey]

12. Mine has been producing for a month. Four pots of tomatoes

on the back deck and they are loaded down. We've been eating them for weeks.

[WhiteTara]

14. I would believe dirty packing sheds

rotting food and rats come to mind