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With Salmonella Scare, Retailers Reject Florida Tomatoes

Tribune photo by JAY CONNER

The Burger King at Kennedy and West Shore boulevards indicates it's not serving tomatoes.

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By RUSSELL RAY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 9, 2008

TAMPA - Trucks of Florida-grown tomatoes were being turned away by retailers Monday after a salmonella outbreak sickened 145 people in 16 states, state officials said.

Florida is not on the list of safe tomato-producing states – those not linked to the outbreak – nonetheless, state agriculture officials say Florida-grown tomatoes are safe to eat and are awaiting clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"We know Florida's tomatoes are OK," said Liz Compton, spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. "The problem is, they haven't officially cleared us yet, and we are having trucks turned away."

The outbreak is linked to red plum, red Roma and red round tomatoes harvested before April 15.

"What we know is that the tomatoes that we're shipping now were not being harvested at the time in question," Compton said.

FDA officials say it still is safe to eat cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, those still attached to the vine and tomatoes from Canada.

Meanwhile, Tampa-based Sweetbay Supermarkets and Lakeland-based Publix Super Markets have pulled all of the suspect tomatoes from their shelves.

Both retailers still are selling produce deemed safe to eat by the FDA.

"If you go into Publix, you will see tomatoes on the shelf," said Publix spokeswoman Shannon Patten. "There are still several varieties of tomatoes still available."

Panera Bread outlets also have stopped serving certain types of tomatoes.

"We've instructed our cafés to only serve the tomatoes from sources deemed safe by the FDA," said Panera Bread spokeswoman Linn Parrish.

Salmonella is a potentially fatal infection. The young, elderly or anyone with a weakened immune system is susceptible to the food-borne illness.

No deaths have been linked to this outbreak, and none of the reported cases is in Florida. The 145 cases linked to the outbreak have been reported in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

Reporter Russell Ray can be reached at (813) 259-7870 or rray@tampatrib.com.

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