U.S. expands salmonella warning on fresh tomatoes

The federal government expanded its salmonella warning nationwide about three kinds of tomatoes as more retailers and restaurants stopped offering them and growers said sales were plummeting. 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 SalmonellaSaintpaul. For the full story visit http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tomatoes11-2008jun11,0,1894779.story