Important Food Safety Bulletin

The Texas State Department of Health Services and the Food and Drug Administration are urging consumers to avoid eating products that contain raw Roma, red plum or round red tomatoes.

Since mid-April, 21 cases of Salmonella poisoning have been associated with the consumption of these kinds of tomatoes. Cases have been confirmed in Harris, Fort Bend, Dallas, Tarrant, Hays, and Cameron counties.

Although, the source has yet to be identified, restaurants are taking extra precautions to insure the safety of their customers. Many restaurants have removed raw tomatoes products entirely from their menu and others are working with their suppliers to resolve the issue.

Information on safe handling of produce can be found at www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/prodsafe.html.

Tomato consumer page can be found at http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/tomatoes.html

Updates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/