6/11/2008

HEALTH ALERT:
PPHD UPDATE ON SALMONELLA OUTBREAK
LINKED TO CERTAIN TYPES OF TOMATOES

SUMMARY (as of June 10, 2008):

Federal officials hunted for the source of a 17-state salmonella outbreak linked to three types of raw tomatoes, while the list of supermarkets and restaurants yanking those varieties from shelves and menus grew. Based on investigations being conducted nationwide by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the City of Pasadena Public Health Department (PPHD) recommends that consumers not eat raw red Roma, raw red plum, raw red round tomatoes, or products that contain these types of raw red tomatoes unless the tomatoes are from the sources listed below. If unsure of where tomatoes are grown or harvested, school authorities, parents, and consumers are encouraged to contact the store where the tomato purchase was made. At this time, consumers should limit their tomato consumption to tomatoes that have not been implicated in the outbreak. These include cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, or tomatoes grown at home. Also not associated with the outbreak are raw red 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. The complete list of FDA recommended tomatoes grown and harvested from areas that have not been associated with the outbreak is available at www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/tomatoes.html#retailers

In addition, officials at the Los Angeles Unified School District - the nation's second largest - said Monday they have “indefinitely suspended'' serving uncooked tomatoes.

MORE DETAILS ON THIS ALERT:
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. The salmonella causing the outbreak is a very unusual type called salmonella saintpaul, said FDA Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach, who added it was not more virulent than other types of salmonella.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that since mid-April, 167 people infected with salmonella with the same ``genetic fingerprint'' have been identified. Investigations by the Texas and New Mexico Departments of Health and the U.S. Indian Health Service have tied 56 cases in Texas and 39 in New Mexico to raw, uncooked, tomatoes. An additional 50 people have been sickened by the same Salmonella ``Saintpaul'' infection in Arizona, California (2 cases), Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. At least 23 people have been hospitalized. A 67-year-old cancer patient in Texas who health officials said was sickened by salmonella at a Mexican restaurant is believed to be the first death associated with the outbreak. While the death of that patient has been officially attributed to his cancer, Houston health department spokeswoman Kathy Barton told the Houston Chronicle in Tuesday's editions that the salmonella strain was a contributing factor. The patient was hospitalized after eating pico de gallo, a tomato-based condiment, in late May.

McDonald's, the world's largest hamburger chain, stopped serving sliced tomatoes on its sandwiches as a precaution, but will continue serving grape tomatoes in its salads because no problems have been linked to that variety. Other restaurant operators that have stopped serving most tomatoes include Burger King, Yum Brands Inc., which owns Taco Bell, KFC, Long John Silver's and A&W All-American Food Restaurants; Outback Steakhouse; Darden Restaurants, which owns and operates six brands including Red Lobster and Olive Garden; Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.; and, Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp., which operates Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes restaurants. Some California restaurants continued using the tomatoes because they buy from growers in states the FDA has said are not involved in the outbreak. Among retailers, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Cincinnati-based Kroger Co., Winn-Dixie Stores Inc., Publix Super Markets Inc. Trader Joe's, and Giant Eagle are working with federal officials to ensure affected tomatoes are pulled from warehouse and grocery stores nationwide.
 

For over 110 years, the City of Pasadena Public Health Department has been working to protect and assure the health of the surrounding Pasadena community. For information about programs, clinics and services, please call 626-744-6005.005.