FDA says it's okay to eat tomatoes again

It's safe to eat tomatoes again. The Food and Drug Administration today announced that it is lifting its Salmonella warning on tomatoes amid signs that an outbreak that began this Spring has been slowing. Jalapeño and Serrano peppers, however, are still suspect, the agency said.

Consumers can now eat any tomatoes on the U.S. market. The FDA says that high risk populations—the elderly, children and those with compromised immune systems—should avoid eating the peppers in fresh, raw form (including in fresh salsa).

Although they were not cleared as a cause, tomatoes were taken off FDA's concern list because all the farms—mostly in southern Florida and Mexico—identified as being suspect have stopped producing tomatoes this season. There is still an investigation underway of a packing operation in Mexico that packs peppers from a number of growers.

“We still do not know where the original contamination point was,” David Acheson, assistant commissioner for food protection at the FDA, said in an afternoon conference call. The outbreak has sickened 1,220 people in 42 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. Although it is continuing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that there appears to be a decrease in intensity (meaning fewer new cases a day) since mid June, which officials hope will continue.

To learn more about this outbreak, read our earlier posting, "The 411 on foodborne illness."