Salmonella in Tomatoes

[mozart]

I understand the process of finding out what caused the sickness. What I am trying to understand is how they can then decide that such a vast number of tomatoe sources all have a salmonella problem. Or, do they take a shotgun approach and shut down a lot of places and then test? As has been pointed out, it takes a while to find out if the Salmonella is actually present.

As for cooking the tomatoes, I think they are quarantined and can go no where till they are cleared, at which point, they could be spoiled.

AC

​

​

Today recalls of contaminated food are voluntary. The
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act does not give the FDA
the power to order a producer to recall a food product, with the
exception of infant formula. If a firm does not voluntarily recall a product,
the FDA can go to court to seek an injunction or seizure of the
product. They rarely do unless they are certain the product is contaminated. In this case, they are not sure where the contaminated products are coming from and have just issued advisories. Producers are usually cooperative because the cost of being wrong and shipping against the FDA's advice is essentially bankruptcy.​

 

[mcnerd]

What I am trying to understand is how they can then decide that such a vast number of tomatoe sources all have a salmonella problem. Or, do they take a shotgun approach and shut down a lot of places and then test?

It's a process of elimination. They have to use the shotgun approach until they find the source that is actually contaminated. As the testing is done for each source those are marked off as safe. The problem is complicated because we have tomatoes coming from multiple sources so its worse than finding a needle in a haystack.

I just find it such a waste of produce when the tomatoes could just somehow be reprocessed (cooked) instead of being a total loss, but our system is not set up for that (yet).

The previous cooking solution was mentioned regarding people that already had possession of the suspect tomatoes and were tossing them out.

 

[attie]

I'm trying to come to grips as to how this could have possibly happened

 

[mcnerd]

Probably because some person forgot to wash their hands because they were in a hurry.

 

[luvs]

I'm trying to come to grips as to how this could have possibly happened

cow patties.

 

[Jeekinz]

I'm glad I grow my own. In a couple weeks I'll be innundated with tomatoes.

 

[bethzaring]

I'm glad I grow my own. In a couple weeks I'll be innundated with tomatoes.

jeepers, mine haven't even flowered yet

 

[Jeekinz]

I'll be staking them this weekend, as most have grown above their cages. Flowers-A-Plenty. The small grape/cherry varieties have little green tomatoes already.

 

[frozen drink]

Still, I think the best solution for this problem, is grows your own tomatoes at your backyard or garden.

By this method, you're not only can consume it without any worry, but also save you lots of money as well.

 

[mcnerd]

Sorry, but you can have salmonella on your homegrown tomatoes too, especially if you live around any animals, including birds, inside or outside.

 

[DramaQueen]

Sorry, but you can have salmonella on your homegrown tomatoes too, especially if you live around any animals, including birds, inside or outside.

You got that right. As for saving money, I tried that once. By the time I bought the tomato plants, added organic soil, bought fertilizer and pesticide it was cheaper to buy the tomatoes. In season, tomatoes are very cheap if you buy them like I do from farmers' markets.

 

[AMSeccia]

They're not cheap here, no matter how you do it ... and homegrown (or farmers market) certainly always taste better, but this is only an option a couple short months of the year for many of us. Northern climates are not necessarily hotbeds of tropical growing conditions.