Food Safety: June 2008 Archives

This is interesting commentary on the tomato Salmonella 'crisis'.  Basically stated, the public is induced not to accept any risk with our food supply. MB

June 12 2008 CDC update - Investigation of Outbreak of Infections Caused by Salmonella Saintpaul

US: Attack of the tomato industry killers

11.jun.08

Financial Post

Terence Corcoran, editor of the Financial Post, writes that it started out as another killer tomato story - one Texas man dead from salmonella poisoning, 146 others suffering in 16 states - but now it's turning into the killer of the tomato industry story. How did that happen?

The usual. It begins with a food poisoning, gets picked up by brain-dead media, story flies out of control for 48 hours, regulators swing into extreme self-preservation mode, risk-ignorant consumers 2,000 kilometres away get confused and panicky, and the food in question - a billion dollar industry - gets blown away.

The bare bones junk science sequence of this week's tomato scare story couldn't be more illustrative of our absurd inability to cope with what are really local and relatively minor commonplace events that involve risk that is minimal to non-existent. Food scare stories are also commonplace, and occur even though food risks are generally easily controlled, preventable and avoidable. [MORE]

Latest FDA updates at http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/tomatoes.html

The Food and Drug Administration is expanding its warning to consumers nationwide that a salmonellosis outbreak has been linked to consumption of certain raw red plum, red Roma, and red round tomatoes, and products containing these raw, red tomatoes. FDA recommends that consumers not eat raw red Roma, raw red plum, raw red round tomatoes, or products that contain these types of raw red tomatoes unless the tomatoes are from the sources listed below. If unsure of where tomatoes are grown or harvested, consumers are encouraged to contact the store where the tomato purchase was made. Consumers should continue to eat cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, or tomatoes grown at home.

On June 5, using traceback and other distribution pattern information, FDA published a list of states, territories, and countries where tomatoes are grown and harvested which have not been associated with this outbreak. This updated list includes: Arkansas, California, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, Netherlands, and Puerto Rico. The list is available at www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/tomatoes.html#retailers. This list will be updated as more information becomes available. FDA’s recommendation does NOT apply to the following tomatoes from any source: cherry, grape, and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached.[MORE]