Tainted tomato outbreak hits Mass.

June 20, 2008 08:02 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By Globe Staff

The tainted tomatoes have arrived. State public health officials said today that 12 recent cases of salmonella reported in the state have been linked to a nationwide outbreak.

Friend or foe?

The Department of Public Health said it had used DNA matching techniques to determine that the Massachusetts cases were linked to the broader outbreak. More than 500 cases have been reported nationally. New York and New Hamsphire officials have also reported cases in recent days.

The Massachusetts cases were reported in Middlesex, Worcester, Plymouth, Norfolk, and Suffolk Counties. Victims ranged in age from 5 to 39 years old.

The FDA has asked consumers to avoid certain raw red plum, raw red Roma, raw red round tomatoes and products containing those tomatoes. Consumers are not advised to try cooking the tomatoes.

What's safe to eat? Cherry, grape, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, and homegrown fruits. Tomatoes grown in Massachusetts are also considered safe.

U.S. food safety inspectors, still hunting for the source of the widening outbreak, headed for farms in Florida and Mexico today.

A surge of newly confirmed cases moved the official count to 552 illnesses in 32 states, pushing the outbreak into record territory. In 2004, government records show there were three separate tomato-and-salmonella outbreaks that together totaled 561 illnesses, the largest of which sickened 429 people.

Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.