Tomatoes are again safe to eat, says the Food and Drug Administration, weeks after the food was blamed as a source of a salmonella outbreak in the United States and Canada. The source of the outbreak of salmonella still isn’t known, but the FDA says tomatoes are safe.

The federal agency lifted its warning about tomatoes but left in place a warning about raw jalapeño and serrano peppers, having previously said those foods also may be linked to the outbreak.

The source of the outbreak still isn’t known — and 20 to 30 reports of the illness are coming in per day — but the FDA said the epidemic is “waning…”

Salmonella Saintpaul — a rare form of the bacteria — has infected more than 1,190 people in 42 states, the District of Columbia and Canada since April.

Salmonella can lead to infections involving diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and sometimes a low-grade fever. In most cases, an infected person will recover within a week without medicine simply by staying hydrated, doctors have said.

I’ll say it, again. The FDA is the FEMA of food. There is no traceability. There is no mechanism for mandatory recall. No one is responsible.

Thanks, K B




  1. thirteen says:

    Bottles of pureed tomatoes are finally making their way back onto store shelves.

    All pretext to another War Of The Worlds broadcast :/

  2. Mr. Catshit says:

    My own crop of tomatoes is almost ready. There may be a few scars on them but they don’t taste like cardboard.

  3. sirfelix says:

    Better blog heading: “FDA: Go Ahead And Eat Tomatoes, We Give Up”

    “We suspect that this is about good as it gets when you have the same agency responsible for hearing aids, heating pads, and fresh produce.”

  4. the answer says:

    Can ya ban fast food? That’s probably a bigger health risk then tomatoes and jalapenos with salmonella

  5. GigG says:

    This blog regularly posts stories about how bad the Nanny State has become but when it isn’t Nanny enough you whine like little bitches.

  6. Cinaedh says:

    People who don’t know the difference between a nanny and a cop are in for a whole series of painfully unpleasant surprises.

  7. JimD says:

    FDA = “Regulation” under the Repukes !!! The Three Stooges could do better !!! But of course, the Repukes don’t want to spend any money on “Regulators”, they have to give their Billionaire and Millionaire OVERLORDS their tax cuts !!!

  8. Peter iNova says:

    Eventually it will become more widely known that the ink in FDA bulletins has been a carrier of salmonella for several months. These printed directives have been issued to, and passed out among, food handlers on inspection lines all across the country on a “must read” basis.

  9. Mister Ketchup says:

    How do you like them tomatoes!?

    http://tinyurl.com/5lzf8f

  10. Mr. Fusion says:

    #5, Gig,

    The FDA grew out of concerns about meat packing 100 years ago. Upton Sinclair wrote a masterful book, The Jungle exposing the Chicago meat processing yards. People were so enraged by the filth and unhealthy conditions that the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed the following year.

    The regulatory function of the FDA is to prevent unhealthy food, drugs, and medical practices from reaching the public. Concern for the public’s health is reasonable.

    If you, however, prefer to rub your raw meat on the floor, allow flies, mice, rats, and whatever to eat and shit on it, and mix it with bovine excrement then great. That is what you would have without the FDA’s regulations.

    Most of your “Nanny State” complaints are bullshit. Quite the opposite of the wing nut demand for “Zero Tolerance”.

  11. MikeN says:

    The big meatpackers were big supporters of the FDA regulations, because it hurt the low cost competitors more, and helped them make even more money.

  12. Dave W says:

    Actually, there is no reason that the federal government had to get into the clean up of the meat packing industry. Non-government certification can work just as well or better. See, Underwriters Laboratories, for example. And there are organizations like Consumer Reports that perform similar functions. Indeed, CU is famous for counting the rat hairs and insect parts in foodstuffs they test.

    MikeN is right. Oh, and note that the so called Pure Food and Drug Act makes up the basis for the War On Drugs®.

    Now, how many cases of salmonella do we have on an average month ? I mean, considering that virtually everyone eats tomatoes (although they don’t come on a Big Mac), a few hundred cases out of 300,000,000 people? Hummmmmm.

  13. lou says:

    Just one more thing the W camp has screwed up.
    But we have a war to fund !

  14. GregAllen says:

    I seriously think I and my child got this sickness.

    I’m not the type who gets something because I read it in the news but I honestly think I got this one.

    I have had diagnosed salmonella poisoning once before so I have an idea of symptoms.

    But, it was relatively low grade and we didn’t report it. I wonder how many other unreported cases there was of this?

    (and, yes, we did eat Mexican restaurant a few days before we got sick.)

  15. Paddy-O says:

    #14 – Looks like it never happened before 2001…

    2000
    Salmonella in bean sprouts from Pacific Coast Sprout Farms. They bought dry seeds in China and Australia and when germinated, the sprouts caused an outbreak from Oregon to Massachusetts. At least 67 people became ill, and 17 were hospitalized.[22]

    1997
    Hepatitis A on frozen strawberries from Andrew & Williamson Sales Co. of San Diego, California. The strawberries were grown in Baja California, Mexico and processed by A&W. Thousands of students from Arizona, California, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, and Tennessee may have been exposed to the virus from eating strawberries in school lunches. Over 2.6 million pounds of strawberries were recalled.[23]

    1997
    E. coli O157:H7 in ground beef from Hudson Foods Company of Rogers, Arkansas. Burger King was the largest client. The plant was in Columbus, Nebraska. The company recalled over 25 million pounds of ground beef it had manufactured, in the second largest recall in history.

    1996
    E. coli O157:H7 in unpasteurized apple juice from Odwalla.[24]

    1994
    Salmonella in ice cream from Schwan’s Sales Enterprises of Marshall, Minnesota. The outbreak sickened more than 3,000 people in as many as 41 states. The contamination occurred when raw, unpasteurized eggs were hauled in a tanker truck that later carried pasteurized ice cream to the Schwan’s plant. The ice cream premix wasn’t pasteurized again after delivery to the plant.[25]

    1993
    E. coli O157:H7 in undercooked hamburgers from Jack in the Box. Four people died and hundreds of others became sick in the Seattle area and other parts of the Pacific Northwest.

  16. bobbo says:

    #12–Paddy==you imply the FDA’s regulation of food and drug safety is – – – – – – what? Unnecessary? or is subject to Industry manipulation both real and only attempted?

    Say it straight.

  17. Paddy-O says:

    #18

    Of course you didn’t read and understand what I said. Vitamins aren’t drugs. A basic course in English and definition of words seems to be in order for you.

    Some “supplements” are possibly drugs. No vitamin is.

    Remember, reading is fundamental. I keep reminding you of this. But, it is useless as you can’t read the reminders…

  18. Mr. Fusion says:

    #19, Cow-Paddy,

    Of course you didn’t read and understand what I said. Vitamins aren’t drugs. A basic course in English and definition of words seems to be in order for you.

    As usual, you took too many supplemental stupid pills. Geeze, maybe the FDA should regulate how many you can take.

    Drug
    1.
    a. A substance used in the diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of a disease or as a component of a medication.
    b. Such a substance as recognized or defined by the U.S. Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

    So what are they then? Food? Oopps, that would mean the FDA can regulate them as food. The FDA is quite legally able to regulate vitamins the exact same as they can regulate insulin, penicillin, and botulism toxin, which all occur naturally.

    BTW, your “food pyramid”? That is promoted by the US Department of Agriculture. Of course, I wouldn’t expect Rush to get it right.

  19. lou says:

    #14
    In the list you have in your post, we know what happened.
    Due to budget cuts and increased workload the FDA can’t due the job properly.
    Sad but true !

  20. deowll says:

    How about people need to be sure to wash thier hands and the food before they fix the food they feed you and leave it at that.

    Agreed, the FDA doesn’t have the bodies needed to do the job it is supposed to do so you buy it and take your chances.

  21. thirteen says:

    24 – They need to stop spraying fields with human feces.


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