« What’s Normal? How to stay OUT of the doctor’s office: taste buds, tongue bumps and tonsils
Write It Down to Lose More Weight: How to keep a food diary »

FDA salmonella update: could be tomatoes, could be peppers … the good news

green jalapeno peppersby James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.

Could all those tomatoes have been salmonella-free?

In their list of possible causes for the salmonella outbreak (now over 1,000 people), the FDA has added cilantro and jalapeno peppers to red plum, red roma and red round tomatoes. I have been racking my old brain to find some positive advice to give regarding this. So here goes.

  • It took the FDA about six weeks to find the source of the spinach E. coli outbreak several years ago. We’re about there in the salmonella outbreak, so give them a few more weeks. I know that’s easy to say if you don’t rely on tomatoes or peppers for income. (Oops, keep it positive).
  • The FDA has ruled out tomatoes grown in all states except Arizona, Montana, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Oregon, and parts of Florida.
  • You can safely eat grape or cherry tomatoes or those sold still on the vine.
  • Wyoming, Montana, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Hawaii and Alaska have no reported cases.
  • Home-grown tomatoes taste the best anyway.

There. That’s about all the positive I have. Can you think of any more?

Here are our previous posts on this outbreak.

Tags:

Related Posts

This entry's content reflects the opinions and reporting of the author and not necessarily that of JHMFD. This entry was posted on Monday, July 14th, 2008 at 12:32 am and is filed under Medical Controversies, Nutrition and Fitness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “FDA salmonella update: could be tomatoes, could be peppers … the good news”

  1. Mark Salinas Says:
    July 14th, 2008 at 12:11 pm

    I hope that this issue gets resolved soon. Thank you for keeping an eye on this and providing updates.

    Mark Salinass last blog post..My Special Box

  2. James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H Says:
    July 14th, 2008 at 12:14 pm

    Thanks Mark,

    Maybe something good will come out of it. Like better, and quicker ways put in place to find the source of infections like this.

  3. Judy Rodman Says:
    July 14th, 2008 at 4:21 pm

    Actually, the most positive thing I can think of is that when this gets all sorted out and the problem is isolated, think about it… tomatoes and peppers are going to be among the safest foods we can eat!

    Judy Rodmans last blog post..Too Old, Too Young to Sing?

  4. lhubbard Says:
    July 14th, 2008 at 4:42 pm

    I like this way of looking at the outbreak–thinking of positive things. Here’s one: The fact that we even have an FDA to look into the cause.

    Leigh Ann Hubbard
    Managing Editor
    James Hubbard’s My Family Doctor

Leave a Reply

© My Family Doctor 2010.
Magazine Web Design - M Digital Design Solutions for Publishers