PEPPERS SUSPECTED: Thursday federal health officials declared all types of tomatoes free of salmonella contamination. The investigation now focuses on jalapeño and serrano peppers.

Tomato growers breathed a sigh of relief as Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials removed all types of tomatoes from suspicion for salmonella contamination. According to the CDC, the current outbreak of Salmonella saintpaul is the worst food-borne outbreak in the United States in 10 years. More than 1,200 people have been diagnosed with the illness since mid-April.

Salmonella Outbreak: Quick Facts

The CDC continues to gather statistics for the current outbreak. Here are most recent numbers for Salmonella saintpaul:

* Two elderly men were diagnosed with Salmonella saintpaul as well as multiple other health problems before they died. Salmonella may have contributed to their deaths.

Original Source Unknown, Peppers Now Primary Suspect

FDA and CDC officials now say the following about the outbreak:

• The Salmonella saintpaul outbreak continues with new cases reported every day.
• The original source of the contamination has not yet been identified.
• Multiple types of vegetables may have been contaminated from a single source.
• Although the tomatoes currently being sold no longer pose a risk, tomatoes that were on the market at the beginning of the outbreak could have been the original source.
• Raw jalapeño and serrano peppers are now the focus of the investigation, though raw tomatoes and fresh cilantro—often used together in salsa—continue to be investigated.

The CDC warns the following groups of people to avoid jalapeño and serrano peppers:

• infants
• the elderly
• people with compromised immune systems

As part of the focus on jalapeño and serrano peppers, the FDA sent a group of investigators to a pepper packing plant in Mexico late last week. The plant apparently packs peppers from several Mexican farms. There have been no new announcements regarding this packing plant.

Farmers Hope America Still Loves Tomatoes

Because the salmonella scare sharply decreased the demand for tomatoes, the tomato industry suffered more than $100 million in losses this year. Even growers in states the FDA cleared saw major declines in their crop demands.

Once their crops were cleared, tomato growers asked federal health officials to publicly relax the warnings against tomatoes.

The United Fresh Produce Association welcomed the FDA's announcement Thursday that tomatoes are off the hook.

In a press release, the association said, "As evidence has mounted that tomatoes could not be contributing to this outbreak, we have urged FDA and CDC to change their earlier advisory, so we are pleased with today's news." (United Fresh Produce Association, 7/17/08)

The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange also spoke up on its members' behalf. Executive Vice President Reggie Brown said in an interview with Newsweek, "We're going to be doing everything we can as an industry to reinstitute in the public mind that tomatoes are in fact one of the safest and most wholesome vegetables out there in their diet and that America loves tomatoes." (Newsweek, 7/18/08)

Copyright © 2008 Informify

Question for Readers:

Will you buy fresh tomatoes again now that the FDA cleared them of salmonella risk?