Tomatoes pulled in light of outbreak

By Dante Mozie,
Staff Writer

Published: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, June 9, 2008 at 11:14 p.m.

FLORENCE - Fears of salmonella food poisoning linked to raw sliced tomatoes have forced McDonald's, Taco Bell and other food companies to stop using the items in its stores, according to The Associated Press.

Click to enlarge

A sign at McDonald’s Restaurant on Cloverdale Road in Florence explains why they are not serving tomatoes.

Matt McKean/TimesDaily

What to avoid

Until further notice, stay away from the following types of tomatoes:

raw red round

raw red plum

raw red Roma

What’s OK

According to the FDA, cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached and tomatoes grown at home are likely OK. Raw red plum, raw red Roma and raw round red tomatoes can be consumed if they come from the following locations:
Arkansas, California, Georgia, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, Netherlands, Puerto Rico.

If you’re not sure where your tomatoes came from, you are encouraged to contact your local store for more information or go online to fda.gov.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, raw red plum, raw red Roma and raw round red tomatoes are the prime targets in the salmonella outbreak. About 145 cases of salmonella have been reported since mid-April, according to the FDA, and have left at least 23 people hospitalized.

The FDA is investigating the source of the tomatoes responsible for the outbreak, according to The Associated Press.

McDonald's officials said the restaurants would continue to use grape tomatoes in its salads because no problems have been linked to those tomatoes.

Locally, officials from the McDonald's locations at 306 Cox Creek Parkway and 3183 Cloverdale Road in Florence declined to comment.

But McDonald's isn't the only restaurant affected by the recent news.

Signs notifying customers at Burger King of the chain's decision to pull all tomatoes from their restaurants began to appear as early as Sunday.

At the Cox Creek Parkway Pizza Hut, the shift manager, who wished not to be named, said they received a letter from the restaurant's corporate offices to pull their tomatoes "just to be safe."

An employee from Ricatoni's Italian Grill in Florence, who wished not to be named, said he had not been contacted by the restaurant's food suppliers about the situation, but added that they would make the necessary adjustments if needed.

O'Charley's restaurant at 102 Cox Creek Parkway received an e-mail Wednesday from the restaurant's corporate offices to remove all raw tomatoes, said manager Jason Anderson.

"We received another e-mail that said we can use store bought Rotel in place of the raw tomato products," Anderson said.

The Olive Garden Italian Restaurant on 375 Cox Creek Parkway said that they pulled all tomatoes from their shelves several days ago after a notice from its corporate offices, said manager David Weands.

"Just (as a precaution), we pulled all tomatoes from all shelves," said Weands.

Monday's news is also affecting grocery stores in the Shoals area.

Staff at Piggly Wiggly on Woodward Avenue in Muscle Shoals said that they were told by corporate offices to remove three types of tomatoes from their shelves Monday. The store said it still had tomatoes in its produce section, but they were not affected by the outbreak.

Other grocery stores in the area said they were monitoring the situation.