"Dimitri" > wrote in message
...
> http://permianbasin360.com/content/fulltext/?cid=5596
>
> Tomato Warnings Go Nationwide
>
> Reported by: Stefanie Jay
> Sunday, Jun 8, 2008 @11:38pm CST
>
> Tomato warnings go nationwide. Salmonella outbreaks spread to 16 states!
> Federal authorities say large tomatoes, including roma and round red, are
> to blame. Their studies show cherry and grape tomatoes should be safe to
> eat. The number of confirmed salmonella cases in the lone star state that
> are connected to tomatoes has grown to 56!
> << Back
>
>
>
> --
> Old Scoundrel
>
> (AKA Dimitri)



McDonald's, others pull tomatoes over salmonella
By CARLA K. JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer 57 minutes ago

McDonald's, Wal-Mart and other U.S. chains have halted sales of some raw
tomatoes as federal health officials work to trace the source of a
multistate salmonella food poisoning outbreak.

Burger King, Outback Steakhouse and Taco Bell were among other restaurants
voluntarily withdrawing tomatoes from their menus, following federal
recommendations that consumers avoid red plum, red Roma or round red
tomatoes unless they were grown in certain states and countries.

McDonald's Corp., the world's largest hamburger chain, has stopped serving
sliced tomatoes on its sandwiches as a precaution until the source of the
bacterial infection is known, according to a statement Monday from
spokeswoman Danya Proud. McDonald's will continue serving grape tomatoes in
its salads because no problems have been linked to that variety, she said.

The source of the tomatoes responsible for the illnesses in at least 16
states has not been pinpointed. The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention has said at least 23 people have been hospitalized, and no deaths
have been reported.

In downtown Chicago, travel agent Connie Semaitis, 49, bought a cheeseburger
and a drink at a McDonald's restaurant during lunch hour Monday. She said
she was happy the chain was being cautious.

"I'd rather be safe than sorry," Semaitis said.

The Food and Drug Administration warned consumers in New Mexico and Texas as
early as June 3 about the outbreak. The agency expanded its warning during
the weekend and chains began voluntarily removing many red plum, red Roma or
round red tomatoes from their shelves in response.

Tampa-based OSI Restaurant Partners LLC, which owns and operates eight
brands including Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's and Bonefish Grill, said it
stopped serving all raw tomatoes other than grape tomatoes on Saturday
evening. The company also instructed its restaurants to discard salsa and
other prepared foods containing raw tomatoes.

Miami-based Burger King Corp. said it had withdrawn raw round red tomatoes
from most of its U.S. restaurants. The company also removed the variety from
all its locations in Canada and Puerto Rico and from some restaurants on
other Caribbean islands.

Burger King said some California restaurants were allowed to continue using
the tomatoes because they buy from growers in states the FDA has said are
not involved in the outbreak.

Orlando-based Darden Restaurants, which owns and operates six brands
including Red Lobster and Olive Garden, and Denver-based Chipotle Mexican
Grill Inc. also said they'd halted serving tomatoes, with Chipotle posting a
notice to customers on its Web site that its tomato salsa is temporarily
unavailable.

Taco Bell Corp. pulled tomatoes as well, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Messages seeking comment were left by The Associated Press for Louisville,
Ky.-based Yum Brands Inc., which owns Taco Bell.

Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the largest grocery seller in
the United States, repeated a statement Monday that some tomatoes had been
removed from its shelves. Wal-Mart initially announced the action Thursday.

"According to the FDA, cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes and tomatoes sold
with the vine still attached are not affected by this incident, and may
still be found on our shelves," Wal-Mart said. But the retailer, responding
to concerns of federal officials, had stores in New Mexico, Texas and "other
select stores with tomatoes from related sources" pull tomatoes listed in
the FDA alert. The company said it took from its shelves certain Romas,
slicers, three-pack and four-pack tomatoes.

Wal-Mart also programmed an electronic block into its cash registers so they
could not ring up any of the tomatoes that may have remained on the shelves.

Jacksonville, Fla.-based Winn-Dixie Stores Inc., which operates 521 stores
in five southern states, also stopped selling tomatoes involved in the FDA
warning, as did Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix Super Markets Inc. Publix
offered refunds to customers who bought the tomatoes before they were
removed from shelves or destroyed over the weekend.

In Pittsburgh, KDKA-TV reported that Giant Eagle supermarkets also removed
several kinds of tomatoes from their shelves, while the Times said chains
Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons did the same.

The FDA is investigating the source of the outbreak, agency spokeswoman
Kimberly Rawlings said.

"We are working hard and fast on this one and hope to have something as
quickly as possible," Rawlings said Monday.

Rawlings said the FDA's "traceback" investigations typically look at
similarities in illnesses reported to the CDC by state health officials.
Investigators work backward to find the source of the contaminated product.

Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached
and homegrown tomatoes are likely not the source of the outbreak, federal
officials said.

Also not associated with the outbreak are raw Roma, red plum and round red
tomatoes from Arkansas, California, Georgia, Hawaii, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala,
Israel, Netherlands and Puerto Rico.

Salmonella is a bacteria that lives in the intestinal tracts of humans and
other animals. The bacteria are usually transmitted to humans by eating
foods contaminated with animal feces.

Most infected people suffer fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps starting 12
to 72 hours after infection. The illness tends to last four to seven days.

___

AP Business Writer Matthew Perrone in Washington and AP Writers Lisa Orkin
in Miami and Maria Danilova in Chicago contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/saintpaul/

FDA: http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01848.html


--
Old Scoundrel

(AKA Dimitri)