| Subject: NEW MEXICO- Warning goes out for tainted tomatoes |
| From: "Witte, Jeff M." |
| Date: Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:11:13 -0600 |
| To: #ALL NMDA |
NEW
MEXICO/BARFBLOG: Warning goes out for tainted tomatoes
01.jun.08
KOB.com - http://kob.com/article/stories/S462279.shtml?cat=500
Health officials are issuing a warning about tainted tomatoes after more than
30 people from around New Mexico were infected with salmonella.
Health officials say seven New Mexico counties are affected by the outbreak,
including Dona Ana, Socorro, Curry, McKinley, San Juan, Bernalillo and
Sandoval.
State experts say uncooked tomatoes tainted with the strain of Salmonella St.
Paul are making people sick with what is called salmonellosis. They say most
people affected by the illness develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12
to 72 hours after infection.
The New Mexico Department of Health is warning physicians and patients to be
aware of the symptoms, which could be a cause for hospitalization for infants
and the elderly.
Dr. Mike Landen, deputy state epidemiologist with the Department of Health, was
quoted as saying, "We have alerted physicians and hospitals around the
state to be on the lookout for people presenting with fever and diarrhea and to
test those people for salmonella. We are asking the public to take general precautions
to avoid being exposed to salmonella and to seek health care if they develop a
severe illness with fever and diarrhea."
The department says some of the infected tomatoes were bought from a Wal-Mart in Las Cruces or Farmington, a Lowe's in Las Cruces or Bashas' in Crownpoint. But they say other stores are probably selling the tomatoes too. Health officials are still trying to pinpoint which tomatoes are carrying the bacteria.
A table of tomato-related North American outbreaks is available at
http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/en/article-details.php?a=3&c=32&sc=419&id=953
Tomatoes are one type of fresh produce where it appears pathogens like
Salmonella can be internalized, which means washing is of little use. The
problems need to be prevented on the farm. Regulators and the industry in the
past have have released food safety guidelines for tomatoes, but there is a
lack of verification; it is unclear if all growers are actually following the
guidelines.
Guidelines are a first step, but we need more creative ways to compel everyone,
from the person harvesting to the person distributing, to take food safety
seriously, even in the absence of an outbreak.
Luedtke, A., Chapman, B. and Powell, D.A. 2003. Implementation and analysis of
an on-farm food safety program for the production of greenhouse vegetables.
Journal of Food Protection. 66:485-489.
Powell, D.A., Bobadilla-Ruiz, M., Whitfield, A. Griffiths, M.G.. and Luedtke,
A. 2002. Development, implementation and analysis of an on-farm food safety
program for the production of greenhouse vegetables in Ontario, Canada. Journal
of Food Protection. 65: 918- 923.
We also published a book chapter entitled Implementing On-Farm Food Safety
Programs in Fruit and Vegetable Cultivation, in the recently published,
Improving the Safety of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables.
Jeff Witte
NM
Director Office of Agriculture Biosecurity
-NMDA
Box 30003 MSC 3AG
Las Cruces, NM 88003