FDA inspectors to Fla., Mexico in salmonella probe

[dkf]

WASHINGTON (AP) - There may be a break in the salmonella case: Food and Drug Administration inspectors headed for farms in Florida and Mexico on Friday, as new clues emerge to the possible source of salmonella-tainted tomatoes that have now sickened 552 people.

The FDA wouldn't say where in Florida and Mexico the hunt is centering. But officials stressed that the clues don't necessarily mean that a particular farm will turn out to be the culprit.

Investigators will pay special attention to big packing houses or distribution warehouses that handle tomatoes from many farms and where contamination could be spread, leading to what now appears to be the nation's largest-ever salmonella outbreak from tomatoes.

"It does not mean definitively the contamination occurred on a farm in Mexico or on a farm in Florida," said Dr. David Acheson, FDA's food safety chief. "This is not just the farms that we're inspecting, it's the whole distribution chain."
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Most of Friday's newly reported cases were people who became sick in April or May but just completed testing to prove they had the outbreak strain of salmonella.

But the latest victim got sick on June 10, meaning the outbreak may not be over.

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