U.S. expands salmonella warning on fresh tomatoes

Officials at the Food and Drug Administration said they were still searching for the origin of the tainted fresh Roma, plum and red round tomatoes, though industry insiders and early reports suggested that the field had been narrowed to Florida or Mexico.

"Preliminary information suggests that the tomatoes may have come from Mexico, though the FDA's investigation does not confirm that," said Deborah Busemeyer, a spokeswoman for the New Mexico Department of Health. The state alone reports 63 cases of the rare strain Salmonella Saintpaul.

The FDA advised restaurants, grocery stores and food service operators not to sell products made with the three tomato varieties unless they were certain that the fruit was grown in approved states, including California.

Cherry and grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine attached and tomatoes grown at home were not affected.

Frustrated tomato growers said consumers overwhelmingly took the warning as a sign to stay away from all tomatoes, causing many retailers and restaurants to cancel orders.

At least 167 people have been infected, with 23 requiring hospitalization, since mid-April, according to the FDA. Last year, the agency said, only three people came down with the Saintpaul strain.

In Texas last Wednesday, Raul Rivera, 67, died after contracting salmonella from a pico de gallo dish he had eaten at a Mexican restaurant, said Kathy Barton, spokeswoman for Houston's Department of Health and Human Services. But she said the official cause of Rivera's death was cancer and that salmonella was just a contributing factor.

The salmonella bacterium, which causes fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, is blamed for about 600 deaths each year, according to health officials. Young children and frail or elderly people are most at risk.

Leery consumers seem to be redirecting some of their tomato shopping away from supermarkets and toward farmers markets, where most produce is grown locally in small batches.

Local farmers are seeing an influx in orders, and restaurateurs are increasingly using their farmers market ingredients as a selling point, according to Laura Avery, supervisor of Santa Monica's farmers market program.