The Food and Drug Administration yesterday updated its list of states and countries exporting SAFE tomatoes. Namely, Florida tomatoes have been approved. But here’s the whole list, followed by a few paragraphs of additional information that I found on the FDA Web site. If you have other questions, I would encourage you to visit the site.

The list of APPROVED states:

Alabama
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Delaware
Florida (counties of: Jackson, Gadsden, Leon, Jefferson, Madison, Suwannee, Hamilton, Hillsborough, Polk, Manatee, Hardee, DeSoto, Sarasota, Highlands, Pasco, Sumter, Citrus, Hernando, Charlotte)*
Georgia
Hawaii
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Minnesota
Mississippi
New Jersey
New York
Nebraska
North Carolina
Ohio
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
West Virginia
Wisconsin

Belgium
Canada
Dominican Republic
Guatemala
Israel
Netherlands
Puerto Rico

* Shipments of tomatoes harvested in these counties are acceptable with a certificate issued by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Consumers who are unsure of where the tomatoes are from that they have in their home are encouraged to contact the store or place of purchase for that information.

Consumers should also be aware that raw tomatoes are often used in the preparation of fresh salsa, guacamole, and pico de gallo, are part of fillings for tortillas, and are used in other dishes.

Restaurants, grocery stores, and food service operators have been advised by the FDA not to offer for sale or service raw red plum, Roma, or red tomatoes and products made from these types of tomatoes unless they are from one of the areas listed above.

Since mid April, there have been 167 reported cases of salmonellosis nationwide caused by Salmonella Saintpaul, an uncommon form of Salmonella. At least 23 hospitalizations have been reported.

Source: Food and Drug Administration.

In case you’ve missed it, the Food and Drug Administration is advising against the consumption of certain kinds of raw tomatoes, including red plum, red Roma and red round. Apparently, folks across the country have fallen ill with salmonella infection and the FDA believes it has been linked to tomatoes.

I’m really disappointed by this outbreak. It’s almost tomato season here, which should be a time of joy for tomato lovers everywhere. It’s a time to savor that first tomato sandwich or a big bowl of warm, juicy fruit with cottage cheese. And while the best tomatoes, hands down, come right out of a backyard garden, people with no time to garden deserve the very best of the season, too.

When I went grocery shopping on Sunday, many tomatoes had all been pulled from my Kroger store. Cherry, grape and on-the-vine tomatoes are still okay, according to the FDA. The administration has released a list of states where tomato production has NOT been affected by the outbreak. Read on for the list.

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