Investigators of FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention ) revealed that the tomato warning which was given in the previous month has been withdrawn by them, but they will continue the warning given on jalapeno peppers.
In the month of June FDA and CDC warned people about the infection which was causing in different states like Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, etc, due to Salmonella Saintpaul bacteria. It was found that those persons who got sick were most likely to consume certain types of raw tomatoes, fresh jalapeno peppers, and fresh cilantro. As those items were commonly, though not always, consumed together, so they could not determine which of the item(s) caused the illnesses.
Now they have removed their warning on tomatoes and informed them that they can enjoy all types of tomates available in the domestic market, without concern.
FDA said that they have removed all the contamined tomatoes from the market. During their investigation they have identified different farms those were producing and shipping those tomatoes and have marked them as no longer shipping product.
“Those farms that had been implicated through our trace-backs are no longer shipping tomatoes.” said Dr. David Acheson, MD, associate commissioner for foods at the FDA.
Report say that till 17 July 1220 cases of illness linked to Salmonella Saintpaul were reported in 42 states. About 224 peoples were hospitalized.
But the agency continues to warn the children elderly and immunocompromised persons against eating fresh Serrano and jalapeno peppers, as during investigation they receive some hot peppers from different farms.
They believe that some cross-contamination of foods could have occurred during processing, shipping, or handling of products.
“It’s clear to us that tomatoes do not explain, the clusters do not explain all of the cases”, Dr. Robert Tauxe, MD, MPH, deputy director of the CDC’s Division of Foodborne, Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases. “And it’s also clear to us that jalapenos by themselves also do not explain all the clusters or all the cases, so we are seriously considering hypotheses or scenarios that might involve more than one produce type.” the FDA and CDC spokesmen said.
Source: www.metscape.com
Filed under Health
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