Today, CDC and FDA officially announced that “consumer may enjoy all tomatoes that are available in the U.S. marketplace without regard for their origin.”

During a media briefing today about the ongoing Salmonella saintpaul outbreak, FDA Associate Commissioner for Foods David Acheson said that, the FDA was changing its advice because the farms identified thru the trace back investigations are no longer shipping tomatoes and because they did not find any evidence of contamination along the supply chains that were involved in the trace back investigations.  

As evidence has mounted that tomatoes could not be contributing to this outbreak, we have urged FDA and CDC to change their earlier advisory, so we are pleased with today’s news. We continue to encourage CDC and FDA to complete their investigation of Jalapeño and Serrano peppers quickly so that either the problem can be identified or, if not, these products can be cleared as well.

Both FDA and CDC will update their websites to reflect today’s announcement.  CDC also indicated that it would include a graph of the outbreak illnesses on its website.

We will continue to keep you informed, but, as always, please contact us if you have questions.  Amy Philpott, 202-303-3400 ext. 425 (office) or 703-472-6615 (cell)