McDonald’ s Corp. said Monday it has temporarily pulled tomatoes from its sandwiches in the United States, a precautionary move in the wake of a salmonella outbreak that has sicken at least 145 in 16 states.

McDonald’s spokesman Bill Whitman was cited as saying the company has not detected salmonella bacteria in any of its tomato supplies, "but with an abundance of caution, we want to make sure our food items containing tomatoes are absolutely safe." McDonald’s said it will continue to serve grape tomatoes in its premium salads.

Winn Dixie in Florida announced they have pulled tomatoes off the shelves, will destroy the tomatoes in stock, and are asking their customers to not eat them. Giant Eagle Supermarkets of Pennsylvania has also pulled a variety of green, yellow, Roma and organic tomatoes off the shelf as a precaution.

The Tampa Tribune reports that trucks of Florida-grown tomatoes were being turned away by retailers Monday. Florida is not on the list of safe tomato-producing states – those not linked to the outbreak – nonetheless, state agriculture officials say Florida-grown tomatoes are safe to eat and are awaiting clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Liz Compton, spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, said,

"We know Florida’s tomatoes are OK. The problem is, they haven’t officially cleared us yet, and we are having trucks turned away. … What we know is that the tomatoes that we’re shipping now were not being harvested at the time in question."

Tampa-based Sweetbay Supermarkets and Lakeland-based Publix Super Markets have pulled all of the suspect tomatoes from their shelves.