Tomatoes & Salmonella- What you need to know : SuperFoodsRx

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Tomatoes & Salmonella- What you need to know

The salmonella outbreak doesn't mean that all tomatoes are off limits. The FDA says it's fine to keep eating the following types of tomatoes from any source: Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, and homegrown tomatoes.

Because of the salmonella outbreak, the FDA advises consumers not to eat raw red Roma, raw red plum, and raw red round tomatoes, or products containing those types of tomatoes.
When outbreaks aren't under way, the FDA recommends washing whole, fresh produce before eating it. But during an outbreak, the stakes are too high. Washing tomatoes probably won't get rid of the contamination, so the FDA urges consumers to simply avoid eating the suspect tomatoes.

The agency is working with state health regulators, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, food industry groups and others to determine the source of the outbreak, which "may be limited to a single grower or packer or tomatoes from a specific geographic area," the FDA statement said.

The Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Saturday that investigators from the New Mexico and Texas departments of health and the Indian Health Service had conducted interviews comparing foods eaten by ill and well people. It identified the consumption of raw tomatoes as the probable source of the illnesses in those states. On Thursday, the FDA published a list of regions that are not suspected of having produced the contaminated tomatoes. These areas included California, Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Belgium, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, the Netherlands and Puerto Rico.

Consumers who are unsure about the source of tomatoes in their homes are encouraged to contact the store or place of purchase for information, the government said.

It also noted that raw tomatoes were often used in the preparation of fresh salsa, guacamole and pico de gallo. They may be part of salads, fillings for tortillas and other dishes.

Tomatoes are an important SuperFood and we encourage you to find cherry tomatoes and tomatoes still on the vine. A brand we trust is NatureSweet which is available throughout the US.

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