Salmonella outbreak in Texas and New Mexico

[Moe Jones]

Texas-grown tomatoes not tainted Friday, June 06, 2008 | 7:14 PM AUSTIN, TX -- Tomatoes linked to a Salmonella outbreak in Texas and New Mexico were not grown in Texas, state and federal officials said Friday.

Texas state agriculture officials said Texas was one of 12 states or countries eliminated by the federal Food and Drug Administration as a possible source of the tainted tomatoes.

The illness so far has caused more than 50 people in Texas and New Mexico to become ill since the outbreak started in April.

As they work to determine the source, health officials are advising that people not eat any raw Roma or full-sized round tomatoes other than those sold attached to the vine or grown at home.

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[Moe Jones]

What was mad about the problem was when the stores pulled their 50 cents a pound tomatoes off the shelves, they replaced with $2 a pound tomatoes.

[Laura from MomsRetro.com]

How come FedEx can tell you exactly where your package is at all times, but we can't figure out where these tomatoes came from?

[Tom J]

There is no bar code on each tomato. They come to the packing houses from farms from miles around, no bar code added, then shipped to distribution warehouses, repackaged again into the size containers the retailer requires before reaching the retail floor where they get a bar code - price only!! BTW, they have a large crew in Florida searching for the source now. Have you heard the term, "looking for a needle in a haystack"?

Tom J