Retailers and Restaurants Pull Tomatoes

New York City Increasing numbers of retailers and restaurants have stopped selling or serving select tomatoes as the source of the recent salmonella outbreak remains unidentified.

Among the merchants that have pulled the suspect tomatoes are Wal-Mart, Kroger, Winn Dixie, McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, Outback Steakhouse and Red Robin.

Three types of raw tomatoes have been implicated in the 16-state salmonella outbreak, according to an Associate Press report. The tomatoes that have been pulled are red plum, red Roma and round red tomatoes.

However, tomatoes from select areas have been proven not to be linked to the outbreak. Tomatoes sourced from Arkansas, California, Georgia, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, Netherlands and Puerto Rico are not involved in this salmonella outbreak.

In recent weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have identified 167 people who were infected with salmonella suspected to have originated from contaminated tomatoes. The AP reported that of these, at least 23 people were hospitalized and one death has been linked to the poisoning.