Salmonella in tomato toll rises to 138; E. coli in lettuce outbreak appears over

The Dallas Morning News reports that Texas and New Mexico now claim 104 of the 138 cases of Salmonella Saintpaul related to tomatoes in 11 U.S. States. At least 19 people from the two states have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said that tomatoes grown in Texas, California, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina appear to be blameless. Those imported from Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, the Netherlands and Puerto Rico also did not appear to be the source.

The FDA said preliminary investigations suggest that raw red plum, red Roma or round red tomatoes are the source of the problem.

Meanwhile, the Washington Health Department said an E. coli outbreak that sickened at least nine people in Pierce and Thurston counties is apparently over and that there have been no new cases since May 29.

A spokesman, Donn Moyer, said the infection apparently came from romaine lettuce that was served at schools or restaurants. Moyer says health officials haven’t been able to identify the source for sure, although the Food and Drug Administration is still investigating.

This entry was posted in E. coli, Salmonella and tagged , , by Douglas Powell. Bookmark the permalink.

About Douglas Powell

A former professor of food safety and the publisher of barfblog.com, Powell is passionate about food, has five daughters, and is an OK goaltender in pickup hockey. Download Doug’s CV here. Dr. Douglas Powell editor, barfblog.com retired professor, food safety 3/289 Annerley Rd Annerley, Queensland 4103 dpowell29@gmail.com 61478222221 I am based in Brisbane, Australia, 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time