By Ben Doak, Staff Writer
The recent salmonella outbreak linked to fresh tomatoes may cause concern, but there are ways to learn more about those juicy, red fruits in the produce aisle.
Tomatoes have notoriously porous skin, which allows pathogens to lie beneath the surface of the tomato skin, experts say.
Joel Houser, manager of Crabtree Farms, explains: “It’s really easy (for pathogens to enter) when it’s hot, and their pores are open. Then when it cools down, they close up, and whatever your problem is is trapped in there.”
In turn, this makes removing some bacteria difficult. In the case of tomatoes contaminated with salmonella, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends throwing the fruits away rather than attempting to wash them.
Since mid-April, there have been 652 reported cases of salmonella poisoning related to commercial tomatoes, according to the FDA. Food retailers and restaurants have responded by removing some varieties of tomatoes from their shelves and menus. The problem is not new. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded 13 multistate outbreaks of salmonella since 1990.
According to Mr. Houser, bacterial contaminators can range from raw manure and water contamination to any part of postharvest human contact.
In this outbreak, only certain shipments of tomatoes were part of the recall, and those affected were limited to the following varieties: red Roma, red plum and round red tomatoes.
“You’re taking a risk any time you’re buying food that you don’t know where it came from or how it was handled,” said Mr. Houser. “The whole tomato thing is pretty serious.
“One of the benefits of buying local produce is the ease in tracing its path from the seed to the store. (An organic tomato) goes through two sets of hands: the grower and the retailer,” said Mr. Houser.
“It hasn’t gone through the processing plant, gotten trucked out to the distributor and then to the grocery stores. There are a lot of steps for contamination.”
Mike Burns of Burns Best Farm in Ringgold, Ga., said testing showed the water used in his operation is free of contamination.
“I think it’s important for consumers to ask more questions about where their food is coming from,” said Mr. Burns. Many local farmers, including Mr. Burns, welcome customers to their farms, to see how produce is handled.
Food retailers and restaurants are getting new shipments of tomatoes, uncontaminated by the recent outbreak.
The choice between locally grown and commercial tomatoes is up to the consumer, and many factors, like taste or price, may influence the decision, experts say.
No matter the source, it is important to remember to wash your produce after you buy it, food experts agree.
E-mail Ben Doak at bdoak@timesfreepress.com
Or login with:
New Account