Four months after an outbreak of salmonella hospitalized hundreds, forced groceries to toss out tomatoes and peppers by the thousands, infuriated fruit and vegetable growers and puzzled consumers, health authorities said Thursday that the epidemic was about over.
Officials said the number of cases from the nation's largest epidemic of food-borne illness had slid to non-outbreak levels in early August and there had been no clusters of victims since early July.
The produce industry and its customers felt a prolonged -- and often crippling -- burden lift.
"Unquestionably, we're relieved," said Tom Nassif, chief executive of the Irvine-based Western Growers Assn., whose members cultivate about half of the nation's produce. "But we don't want this thing swept under the rug. We still have a lot of people out there hurting."
The industry response is estimated to have cost between $130 million and $250 million, and workers who lost jobs and growers who planted a smaller crop this year will continue to feel the aftershocks.
Several produce executives accused the Food and Drug Administration of running a lengthy, uncertain investigation that shifted suspicion from tomatoes to jalapeno and serrano peppers, shattering consumer confidence.
Infections were first reported in mid-April, leading the FDA to issue a warning against certain tomatoes in early June. By the time the advisory was lifted in mid-July, many retailers had removed all tomatoes from shelves.
Weeks later, the FDA fingered Mexican jalapeno peppers after contaminated samples were found in a victim's home and a Texas distribution center. Soon after, the agency said it discovered salmonella in a serrano pepper and irrigation water on a Mexican farm. Mexican officials said tests by their investigators cleared the farm as the source.
American produce executives griped that at the beginning of the investigation health officials zeroed in too quickly on domestic tomatoes and refused to consider other possible sources. The FDA also shunned offers by produce producers to supply information that could have helped narrow the trace-back, they said.
A bill introduced in July by Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-Fla.) asks the Department of Agriculture to compensate tomato growers and packers nationwide for $100 million in losses relating to the outbreak.
"Everybody agrees that this went on way too long and was unfocused, and that the public's health was not served," said Lisa Lochridge, a spokeswoman for the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Assn.
