Last year it was spinach; this year it's tomatoes. Just in time for summer salads, tomatoes are being pulled from grocery shelves in the wake of salmonella poisoning outbreaks dating back to April. The scourge is nation-wide and difficult to trace.
The suspects? Raw red plum, raw red Roma, and raw red round tomatoes.
According to the FDA, cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and tomatoes with the vine still attached have not been linked to the salmonella outbreak. You can check out the list of states that, as far as we know, are not sending out contaminated tomatoes (which means you should be able to eat plum, Roma, and red round tomatoes from these states).
Your best bet? Buy locally and seasonally. This most recent case of widespread food poisoning is yet another product of our too-large, under-regulated food distribution system. When our food is grown on giant factory farms and shipped from all over the globe it's all the harder to make sure it's 1) grown safely in the first place and 2) not contaminated on its way to stores and restaurants. The current administration and Congress have been too slow to enforce and properly fund real food safety measures.
Those of us with tomato cravings can try growing our own if we have garden space. Or we can go to our local greenmarket and ask the farmers there about how they grow their tomatoes and how they avoid contamination. Buying local isn't a guarantee, but it reduces your risk. It also comes at a cost: the tomatoes I bought this weekend at the greenmarket were $2.00 each! What about people who can't afford to local, organic produce, or who don't live near good markets?
Unfortunately, food safety issues hit people with the least amount of choices the hardest. This is why we need food safety policy we can all count on.
Read more about the tomato salmonella outbreak on WebMD and the Washington Post blog, The Checkout.
Image via The Kitchn.
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