Tomato Salmonella: Cases Remain at 228, Cause Still Unknown

Miami, FLOf the 228 cases of Salmonella Saintpaul poisoning in this latest outbreak involving tomatoes, one person has died. A Texas man in his sixties who had been suffering from cancer was found to have had an infection with the outbreak strain at the time of his death, and officials acknowledge it may have contributed to his death.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, the number of cases of salmonella remains unchanged at 228 since figures were released June 12th. Texas is seeing the most number of cases at 68, followed by New Mexico (55) and Illinois (29). In total, 23 States have been affected. While no deaths of have been officially attributable to the outbreak, at least 25 people have been hospitalized with what is described as a relatively short-lived but nasty illness—an illness that could have dire consequences for children, elderly patients, and those with weakened immune systems.

This particular strain of human Salmonella serotype Saintpaul infection is relatively rare, which prompted the CDC to suggest that use and availability of the infected tomatoes has been fairly widespread across the country. That's understandable, since not all tomatoes sold in this country have been implicated. Red plum, red Roma and round red tomatoes have been implicated, as well as products containing those tomatoes in raw form.

Other varieties of tomatoes are fine. While gourmet chefs and cooking aficionados might know their tomatoes well, for most people a tomato is a tomato. It's round, it's red, and you buy it loose from the basket or bin from the produce section of the supermarket. You recall noticing what type of tomato it was, or an identifying name on the bin marker at the time you bought it, but you've long since forgotten that name by now.

So to be safe, you throw it out anyway. It might have been okay, but better to be safe than sorry.

That has been the stance taken by restaurants as well, from fast food chains like McDonalds all the way down to mom-and-pop restaurants. Until the source of the contamination is found—and as of this writing it hasn't—tomatoes are either off the menu, or officially back on only if the facility can verify that it has one of the varieties of tomato deemed safe.

Meanwhile, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared tomatoes grown in Florida. That news comes as a huge relief to the Sunshine State, given that Florida tomatoes represent a $500 million dollar industry. While operations in the Florida tomato industry have ramped up in recent days, the market has yet to come back. Some growers are reporting they are moving about one quarter of their normal volume, and the growing season for tomatoes in some parts of Florida is almost over. "Once you lose momentum, you're not going to get it back overnight," one Florida grower told the Miami Herald. "It's a dogfight."

The tomato industry is stepping up its pressure on the FDA to hurry up and identify the source of the outbreak, in an effort to put everyone's mind at ease, and to help restore the industry. They fear that if the industry doesn't recover soon, it could represent a $500 million loss to the tomato industry nationally, this year. Jobs, and families could be adversely affected.

The good news for tomato growers is that they shouldn't suffer from the same pall that fell over the bagged spinach industry after the salmonella spinach scare of 2006. Sales of bagged spinach never quite recovered after that, as people found alternatives in the green produce sector. It's a lot tougher to replace a tomato.

That said, consumers are doing without even though there are safe varieties, such as cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes and tomatoes still on the vine. There are also safe varieties of red Roma, red plum and round red tomatoes grown in safe zones around the country not implicated in the salmonella outbreak.

However, consumers remain thoroughly confused. ''If you're an average consumer, you can't remember: Did they say a grape tomato is safe or not?'' said Sarah Klein, attorney for the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "You decide, I'll just skip tomatoes completely.''

'Until [the FDA] comes out and says, 'Here are our findings,' you're going to have a big cloud hanging over the tomato industry,'" said Tony DiMare of DiMare Farms, whose family is one of the biggest tomato growers and packers in Florida and the country. "You're talking about potentially ruining industries, even if you're not associated with the outbreak," he told the Miami Herald. "It's guilt by association.''

In the meantime 228 people who have been directly affected by the salmonella outbreak are having to deal with various symptoms not limited to diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. While most healthy patients will beat down the illness after an uncomfortable five, or seven days—those at higher risk of developing a more severe infection will be faced with much stormier seas. The onset of a severe Salmonella infection can spread from the intestines to the bloodstream and move along to other organs in the body, and can cause death.

Meanwhile those affected in some way by the outbreak will only grow in number, when one factors in those both health, and economic data. The absence of a speedy conclusion to the issue may translate to a parade of lawsuits against those entities that are found to have caused the outbreak, or fostered a delay in the finding of answers…