islandpacket.com - The Island Packet Online

• Archive Search

Search Everything in the Lowcountry and the Coastal Empire.

Tomato recall squeezes some Lowcountry businesses

Comment on this | | | | | | | |

The nationwide salmonella outbreak linked to three types of raw tomatoes has caused local restaurants to eliminate the ingredient from their menus and grocery stores to pull them from their shelves.

Tomatoes grown in Mexico and Florida seem to be the culprits, while those grown in South Carolina have been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration.

The federal agency issued a nationwide safety warning Saturday urging people not to eat three types of the fruit: round red slicing tomatoes, red Roma and red plum.

Produce managers at the Kroger grocery store in Bluffton and Wal-Mart in Hardeeville said only tomatoes grown on a vine and cherry and grape tomatoes are for sale in their stores.

The contaminated varieties are off the shelves until further FDA notice.

Kroger has posted signs about the salmonella poisoning and precautionary reasons for removing the tainted varieties from the store. Wal-Mart is replacing its tomato bins with locally grown varieties, said produce manager Calvin Williams.

Some area restaurants that only use organic or locally grown tomatoes say they are safe from the outbreak.

Bluffton's Downtown Deli, for example, buys its tomatoes from growers on Lady's Island and is continuing to use them.

Restaurants that get their tomatoes from distributors, however, have made some changes to their menus.

Carrabba's on Hilton Head Island only uses Roma tomatoes and has decided to suspend that ingredient unless it they are cooked for 16 seconds at 105 degrees, according to corporate instructions. The FDA warnings do not apply to cooked tomatoes.

Outback Steakhouse on Hilton Head also has stopped using raw tomatoes on sandwiches and burgers. It is using small grape tomatoes in its salads, which the FDA has deemed a safe variety.

Some customers at local restaurants and grocery stores are asking about the recall.

"We just explain we are not serving them right now, just to be safe," said Outback manager Tom Calcaterra.

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.

The death last week of Raul Rivera has been officially attributed to his cancer, but Houston health department spokeswoman Kathy Barton told the Houston Chronicle in Tuesday's editions that the salmonella strain was a contributing factor.

Rivera's wife said he was hospitalized after eating pico de gallo, a tomato-based condiment, in late May while celebrating good news about his cancer treatment.

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 Associated Press contributed to this report.

SHOULD YOU THROW AWAY YOUR TOMATOES?

• The Food and Drug Administration recommends consumers not eat raw red Roma, red plum or red round tomatoes unless they were grown in areas not associated with the outbreak.

• South Carolina-harvested tomatoes have been deemed safe, as have those grown in the following states and countries: Arkansas, California, Georgia, Hawaii, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, Netherlands and Puerto Rico.

• Contaminated tomatoes from anywhere else should be thrown away. If you are unsure where your tomatoes were grown, contact the store where you purchased them.

Source: www.fda.gov

| | | | | | |