FDA lifts advisory on tomatoes
FDA lifts advisory on tomatoes
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration has lifted its warning about the risk of getting Salmonella from eating tomatoes.
David Acheson, FDA's associate commissioner for foods, said in a conference call Thursday, July 17, that it is "highly unlikely" that raw tomatoes originally associated with the Salmonella outbreak are still on the market, according to published reports.
The agency continues to work to determine the cause of the Salmonella saintpaul foodborne illness outbreak that has sickened more than 1,200 people in 42 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. It continues to look at tomatoes, jalapeno and serrano peppers, and cilantro. The FDA said it lifted the warning because no suspect tomatoes remain in the marketplace, according to an Issue Alert e-mailed by the Produce Marketing Association.
FDA said it is going to a pepper packer in Mexico that has appeared during the traceback, but stressed that the visit to the packer should not be interpreted as that packer being responsible for the outbreak, PMA noted.
The Florida tomato industry welcomed the FDA announcement that it is lifting its consumer advisory against tomatoes and that it found no evidence of Salmonella saintpaul at any Florida facility.
"_We have long been confident that Florida's tomatoes were not associated with the Salmonella saintpaul outbreak, and this week our industry called on the FDA to clear our products,"_ the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange said in a statement. _Tomatoes from Florida's growing regions have been gone from the marketplace for weeks, so they could not have been the source of the contamination._
It added, "_Consumer confidence has been shaken by this outbreak, and it will be important for our industry to take the steps necessary to help rebuild that confidence. That will be a top priority for us moving forward._"
David Acheson, FDA's associate commissioner for foods, said in a conference call Thursday, July 17, that it is "highly unlikely" that raw tomatoes originally associated with the Salmonella outbreak are still on the market, according to published reports.
The agency continues to work to determine the cause of the Salmonella saintpaul foodborne illness outbreak that has sickened more than 1,200 people in 42 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. It continues to look at tomatoes, jalapeno and serrano peppers, and cilantro. The FDA said it lifted the warning because no suspect tomatoes remain in the marketplace, according to an Issue Alert e-mailed by the Produce Marketing Association.
FDA said it is going to a pepper packer in Mexico that has appeared during the traceback, but stressed that the visit to the packer should not be interpreted as that packer being responsible for the outbreak, PMA noted.
The Florida tomato industry welcomed the FDA announcement that it is lifting its consumer advisory against tomatoes and that it found no evidence of Salmonella saintpaul at any Florida facility.
"_We have long been confident that Florida's tomatoes were not associated with the Salmonella saintpaul outbreak, and this week our industry called on the FDA to clear our products,"_ the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange said in a statement. _Tomatoes from Florida's growing regions have been gone from the marketplace for weeks, so they could not have been the source of the contamination._
It added, "_Consumer confidence has been shaken by this outbreak, and it will be important for our industry to take the steps necessary to help rebuild that confidence. That will be a top priority for us moving forward._"
