WASHINGTON Two units of a restaurant chain have been cited as the source for at least nine of the 228 instances of salmonella poisoning that officials have traced back to contaminated tomatoes. However, federal authorities would not reveal the name of the chain, where the implicated stores were located or when the victims may have consumed the tainted tomatoes.
Nor have officials said if the nine instances were the same ones that Chicago health officials have traced to restaurant visits. That city’s Department of Public Health has not said what restaurant those nine had visited before becoming sick.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has added one region of Mexico, Baja California, to its list of areas that have been adjudged safe sources of Roma, plum and red round tomatoes. Thirty-seven states also have been cleared as sources, as well as 19 counties of Florida. News reports have cited the remaining areas of Mexico and Florida as the focus of FDA efforts to find the source of the contamination. The agency said it began fielding reports of a salmonella outbreak on May 30.
Restaurant operators have been trying to put the three implicated varieties of tomatoes back on their menus in a raw form by lining up supplies from FDA-cleared areas. McDonald’s is the latest chain to join the list. The burger chain said at the start of the weekend that it would start using sliced tomatoes as a garnish again, but a spokeswoman indicated that lining up alternative supplies for all domestic restaurants could take as long as 10 days.
Other restaurant operators have switched to grape, cherry or vine-ripened tomatoes, which have not been implicated in the outbreak.
For earlier coverage of the outbreak, click here.