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Posted by Maureen K. Fleury Jun 13, 2008 |
I’m not a person to keep up with the latest news, unless it’s a natural disaster - of course.
Yesterday, I was walking by the “yellow M” and saw a signs posted all over the place reassuring customers that they are not serving tomato products at the present time. I thought to myself that maybe there was a bad batch distributed in Western Canada.
Not until I was looking up a news story for my blog, I saw the saga of the tomatoes with salmonella poisoning. This is an international alert and not limited to my little corner of the world. Outbreaks have been reported in 17 states and New Mexico and Texas have been hit the hardest.
As of May 27, 2008 there have been 167 cases of salmonella poising and 23 people had to be hospitalized. The search for the culprit is difficult because the tainted tomatoes have not been isolated to any specific restaurant or grocery store.
The cause of the current outbreak has been identified as a less common type of bacteria called Salmonella Saintpaul. The most vulnerable people are the elderly, infants and those with weakened immune systems. The symptoms of fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain generally appear within 12 to 72 hours of eating tainted food. Salmonella infections are caused by eating food that has been contaminated by animal feces.
U.S. Investigators have narrowed down the source of tainted tomatoes to Mexico and South and Central Florida. If it’s not too late this spring, people who are tomato fanatics better start to grow their own because they know where they came from.
Source: News Daily