F.D.A. Says Source of Tainted Tomatoes May Stay a Mystery

[Teresa]

Got this from, Mike..  a friend of mine..who is very up to date on the food source industry.. .he e-mailed Dr Thornsberry asking him about the tomato outbreak.. he got this reply.:


I am sure the FDA is being careful not to implicate our neighbor to the south.  It is probably tomatoes produced with manure as the fertilizer source, probably poultry litter or human waste.  Sounds like Mexico to me.  Swine or dairy manure could also be a source of Salmonella spp. bacteria.  There are always cases of carrier humans, Typhoid Marys, so to speak, but it would very unusual for so wide spread a condition to be the result of someone not washing their hands.

Although the recent E. coli O157:H7 scare was from leaf spinach produced in a live hog, feral hog, contaminated field in California, tomatoes are different in their method of harvesting and growth.  Contamination of the environment by Salmonella spp., which is always an oral-fecal route of contamination,would be the obvious source of contamination.

If we continue as a country to secure our food from foreign countries, who have different methods of hygiene and culture, we will continue to reap the reward.  There is no FDA or USDA in these foreign countries to police the systems of production.  I have been to these countries.  I have identified the deficiencies personally.

Dr. Thornsberry


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June 19, 2008
F.D.A. Says Source of Tainted Tomatoes May Stay a Mystery
By BINA VENKATARAMAN

The Food and Drug Administration may never be able to pinpoint the origin of salmonella-tainted tomatoes that have sickened hundreds of people, an agency official said Wednesday.

"We may not ultimately know the farm where these came from," Dr. David Acheson, the agency's associate commissioner for foods, told reporters in a conference call. "Some trace-backs that we thought were looking pretty good have been falling apart."

Dr. Acheson said he remained optimistic, but added, "I'm trying to be realistic."

The agency is investigating a cluster of nine people who ate tomatoes at the same restaurant chain, but has not disclosed the chain's name or location.

Also on Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention raised its count of people who have become sick from eating raw tomatoes, to 383 in 30 states and Washington, D.C., up from 277 cases in 28 states and Washington.

And the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said it had confirmed six new cases in addition to a previously known one. More cases might still be confirmed, the department said.

An official at the disease centers said the increase in national cases was mostly from greater surveillance at the state level and positive identifications of salmonella samples in recent tests. At least 48 people have been hospitalized.

The tainted tomatoes were probably grown in Mexico or central or southern Florida, Dr. Acheson said. The agency is looking for the genetic fingerprint of the rare strain of salmonella responsible for the illnesses, tracing the tomatoes back through the supply chain.

Dr. Robert Tauxe of the disease centers said the process would require "finding someone who not only remembers what they had to eat and where they ate it, but someone who doesn't have tomatoes more than once a day."

Dr. Tauxe added, "We do not think the outbreak is over."




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R. M. Thornsberry, D.V.M., M.B.A.
"A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast:" Proverbs 12:10a