When an outbreak of salmonella food poisoning struck thousands of Americans last fall, federal investigators spent months seeking the proverbial “smoking gun.” In short, they spent months trying to pinpoint the origin and responsibility of an onslaught which sickened and even killed.

First they targeted tomatoes, and eventually jalapeno peppers, then Serrano peppers. Finally the “smoking gun” turned out to be a Mexican farm from which the corrupted Serrano peppers entered the food supply.

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American food suppliers involved in the peanut butter salmonella food poisoning outbreak can count themselves lucky that they live here and not in China. In China today, a court condemned two men to execution and another person to life in prison for their roles in China’s recent tainted milk calamity.

Those folks were responsible for the deaths of at least six infants and illness that struck another 300,000 kids when they allowed raw milk to be watered down and mixed with melamine, a banned industrial chemical designed to make the milk seem protein-rich, even though it wasn’t.

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There’s ooze in the news, as the salmonella peanut butter bug spreads. It seems more products are involved than first were suspected, though no jars of grocery-store peanut butter are in the mix.

So if you buy by the jar for your PB&J (that’s peanut butter and jelly to you non-believers in the ultimate comfort food), you’re safe. But if you buy certain brands of crackers, cookies or ice cream with peanut butter, you may be in for a track meet between your bedroom and the bathroom.

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At least the tomato industry won’t take an unfair hit this time — but Americans are still at risk, due to another outbreak of salmonella food poisoning.

Unlike last fall’s outbreak which afflicted hundreds if not thousands of Americans (and finally was tracked to Mexican-grown Serrano peppers), this one has been traced quickly: to peanut butter that’s been sold in five-pound tubs to institutions such as universities, hospitals, nursing homes and restaurants.

In fact, King Nut Companies of Ohio already has issued a recall and an apology.

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You like tomato and I like serrano. Tomato. Serrano.  Tomato. Serrano. Let’s call the whole thing off!

Those lyrics might not have passed muster with George and Ira Gershwin, but they certainly apply today, now that the Food and Drug Administration has pinpointed its search for the salmonella Saintpaul outbreak to two farms in Mexico — and to serrano peppers, not tomatoes, as originally believed.

Tomatoes still aren’t entirely off the hook in this investigatory tug-of-war, the FDA says, since the same farms in which salmonella was found in the irrigation supply and in peppers also could have exposed tomatoes to the same contaminated water. Jalapeno peppers also are suspect. But at least after more than three months of futile searching and more than 1,300 documented cases of Americans suffering disastrous digestive disorders, the feds seem to be onto something. (more…)

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When it comes to the disastrous digestive disorders caused by salmonella Saintpaul – and their mysterious origin — perhaps we should have known from the start that tomatoes might not be the bad apples.
Tomatoes, after all, are soft and juicy and seem relatively harmless, even if they have been used historically – especially as rotten tomatoes – to hurl at performers whose acts bombed.
But jalapenos? Those veggies can vex even in the best of circumstances, and certainly not everyone should eat them. Tasty as jalapenos can be, not even all bona fide, card-carrying, iron-stomached Texans raised on Tex-Mex food are immune from their indigestive powers. (more…)

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You say tomato, and I say forget about it? No way — not any longer — since the Food and Drug Administration has lifted its warning on tomatoes which sprang from America’s ongoing outbreak of salmonella Saintpaul.

Does that mean we’re home free, as far as the threat of bathroom runs spurred by this awful bacterium? No, sadly, it does not. Given the salmonella cases in which tomatoes were served with peppers or other foods, the FDA stills sees a possible link between the digestive-tract bug and jalapeno or Serrano peppers. You probably should add cilantro to that tossed salad of possible culprits, as well.

The FDA now advises people to avoid eating raw jalapeno or Serrano peppers. And young children and the elderly should be especially on the alert, since their immune systems aren’t as strong. (more…)

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SPLAT!
Overripe, under ripe or just right, tomatoes can make you as sick as a dog.

I speak from experience. Last week my husband was apparently the target of a salmonella tainted tomato like more than 500 people in the United States this summer. The encounter made him a “frequent flyer” to the loo in the middle of the night. This sudden “jump and run” form of exercise did nothing for his overall fitness although he lost six pounds from dehydration. (I don’t recommend salmonella food poisoning for anyone trying to lose weight).

I lost a lot of sleep. And, after reading that salmonella can be passed from human to human, I kept a polite distance for the rest of the week although I monitored his temperature and bought a seemingly endless supply of over the counter nausea and diarrhea medicines in hopes they would end his misery.

How was my husband infected? All I know is, after eating a tomato he came down with salmonella symptoms in less than 24 hours. We don’t have birds, pet turtles, reptiles or snakes – common carriers of salmonella food poisoning. We have a lone cat – “Miss Kitty”- who likes it that way.

But back to salmonella – have you ever seen what these bacteria look like? Invaders from outer space, that’s what – odd, rod-like bacteria that dig into the gut where they cause misery for up to seven days.

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Raw red tomatoes have consumers seeing red. Pitifully pained people in several states, including Texas, continue to suffer food poisoning via tomatoes tainted with salmonella, a bacteria which can cause diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, fever and abdominal pain. You know, like reading your income tax statement.

In other words, your price for munching a juicy red tomato with your burger or salad may be spending  days lurching between your bed and your bathroom – and all because you swallowed rather than switched. Oh, you know tomatoes can be rotten. But no, you eat them anyway, gulping down a familiar food which you trust will be healthy, as it’s been so many times before.

The source of this rotten tomato outbreak isn’t definite, but the Food and Drug Administration does believe one thing: Certain tomatoes remain A-OK. Reportedly, grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes and tomatoes with the vine still attached are safe enough to eat without losing your lunch.

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