Salmonella and Tomatoes - ongoing issues

Tomato-associated Salmonella outbreaks caused 1,616 reported illnesses in nine outbreaks during 1990—2004. During 2005--2006, there were four outbreaks of Salmonella infections associated with eating raw tomatoes at US restaurants. The outbreaks resulted in 459 confirmed cases of salmonellosis in 21 States. These were Salmonella Newport, Salmonella Braenderup and Salmonella Typhimurium. Suggested sources were irrigation water, and drainage ditch water. The pH of many varieties, especially when they ate overripe, is not sufficiently low to inhibit the growth of this pathogen (food poisoning organisms). The pH of canned tomatoes is often modified by the addition of citric acid in order to inhibit pathogens.

Salmonella and tomatoes have been back in the news again. The FDA has warned against eating raw plum, round or Roma red tomatoes unless they are from specific sources. McDonald's, Burger King and Taco Bell have stopped serving these types of tomatoes. The CDC reports that since mid-April, 167 people have been infected with Salmonella Saintpaul in 17 states. At least 23 have been hospitalised. I have been reporting in my blogs over the last couple of months the rise in the number of raw foods recalled as a result of possible or actual Salmonella contamination both in the UK and the US. There is a lot of research about incidents with Salmonella Saintpaul in the southern hemisphere in fact in one report it has been argued that this organism accounts for 12% of all typed human isolates in central Queensland. One source described is stored rainwater.

So, where does that leave consumers, for health reasons we are being encouraged to eat raw food, but we rely on there being good agricultural practice and then good hygienic practice throughout the supply chain and food service. Food Safety is not negotiable - food is either safe or unsafe.

“Don't learn safety rules simply by accident” Anon

First posted at The Human Imprint