2011 IS GRAPE TOMATO RECALL YEAR

Maybe I haven't been paying enough attention to the issue, but I don't remember another year when there have been so many grape tomato recalls in the U.S. And all because of Salmonella bacteria. What is it about grape tomatoes, rather than plum tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, globe (beefsteak) tomatoes, roma tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes...or strawberry tomatoes (a new one I found at Berkeley Bowl a couple of days ago) that makes them more risky? I would never make a good lawyer, as I am asking a question to which I don't know the answer. But I do have some theories.

There was a recall in early May of this year of grape tomatoes that originated in Florida, but were distributed all over the place (including to Canada). I did about 5 posts on that one. Then in September, there was a recall of organic grape tomatoes that were grown in Mexico, but distributed in the U.S. by a California-based company (I covered that one too).

Now, we have another recall of grape tomatoes, although hopefully, just a small one. This time they apparently originated in Texas. Front Row Produce of St. Louis MO is recalling its 10oz pint and 10lb bulk grape tomatoes supplied by Rio Queen Citrus, Mission TX. The recalled 10oz pint and 10lb bulk grape tomatoes were distributed throughout Missouri and Illinois to foodservice distributors and retail stores.

There were no lot numbers on the clear plastic packages sold in the stores (oh..oh). Yes, they were on the cardboard case they came in, but that doesn't help us consumers. Anyway, from now on this company's grape tomatoes will have green stickers on the bottom of the plastic package with a seven-digit lot number. That should make future recalls easier. Better late than never.

That reminds me, I bought some grape tomatoes yesterday in clear plastic packages to serve (along with other things) to the 40 or more people coming over on Sunday. Thank goodness I don't live in Illinois or Missouri, or I could just have collaborated in an outbreak of Salmonellosis. But I am concerned anyway. Where will the next grape tomato outbreak occur? Maybe I should have bought the strawberry tomatoes instead....

To your good health,
TSF

SPINOFF FROM THE GRAPE TOMATO RECALL

It was bound to happen. Greencore USA, Inc., of Cincinnati, Ohio, is recalling approximately 57 pounds of salad products containing meat and poultry. And it's not because this meat or poultry was contaminated. It's because the salads also contain those beautiful grape tomatoes that have recently been recalled because of Salmonella (see earlier post - 9/29).

This is like the presently ongoing whole cantaloupe recall, like the May grape tomato recall, and so many others. First the whole fresh produce is recalled, and then there are recalls of ready-to-eat products that have included them.

Let's see what more comes up. In the meantime, you would be wise to pick those grape tomatoes out of your salad just in case they're next on the list.

To your good health,
TSF

ANOTHER RECALL OF ORGANIC GRAPE TOMATOES

If you remember, there was a recall of grape tomatoes in May of this year (I have several posts on this earlier outbreak). The reason was Salmonella-bacteria contamination. Now there's another one, though it's a different producer. And, the tomatoes are organic. As I keep saying - organic produce is no safer from bacteria than conventionally grown produce.

San Diego-based Andrew Williamson Fresh Produce, a grower and shipper of fresh fruits and vegetables, is recalling one lot of organic grape tomatoes. The tomatoes were sold under the Limited Edition® and Fresh & Easy labels and packaged in clam-shell containers. Unlike the grape tomatoes recalled in May, which were grown in Florida, these ones originated in Mexico. That nasty Salmonella family of bacteria knows no borders.

Just because we are talking about "one lot" does not mean that we are talking about a few tomatoes. Actually, these potentially Salmonella-contaminated tomatoes were distributed 18 U.S. states (Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah) and two Canadian Provinces (British Columbia, Ontario).

I guess a lot of us will be going back to cherry tomatoes again for a while.

To your good health.

TSF

E.COLI HAS US PASSING ON THE SALAD

There is still no solution to the mysterious E.coli bacteria outbreak in Europe. We don't know what the source was, but the main suspects are still cucumbers, lettuce and tomatoes.

People are getting nervous and forgoing their salad. First in Spain, now in other European countries as well, farmers are having to throw out their vegetable crops, or feed them to the goats and pigs. The market vendors are suffering too. The German government has advised people not to eat raw vegetables. That means no cucumber salad, no tomatoes on your sandwich, and no salads.

In Hamburg, the center of this deadly outbreak, the main market has few customers and sales have fallen. Even the U.S. military bases in Germany are pulling tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers from the menus, salad bars and commissary shelves. And American Airlines has taken green salads off its menus on flights out of Europe.

But it's not just in Germany. People in other European countries are also being more cautious about fresh vegetables and especially the three main suspects. Even in Britain, farmers are having to discard tons of salad crops because of poor demand - not just of cucumbers, but also of lettuce, tomatoes - and even peppers. As of today, there have been at least 11 confirmed cases of this illness in the UK - four among visiting Germans, and the rest among Brits who recently visited Northern Germany, or, had close contact with someone from there.

Russia has gone so far as to ban import of all vegetables from Europe, which will also hit European farmers hard since it is a major market for their produce.

With all these bailouts and other problems, that's all the EU needed.
To your good health!

TSF

"PURE" BOTTLED WATER, CHIVES AND MORE GRAPE TOMATOES RECALLED

(Here's another note I managed to forget to post a few days ago). You could have lunch on recalled food on a day like today: a "healthy" veggie plate with maybe Salmonella-contaminated tomatoes in it, chives with Listeria monocytogenes bacteria to sprinkle on top for extra flair and contaminated water to drink. Perhaps by the end of today we'll have some fish or meat product recalled as well. Welcome to industrialized food in the United States. Eat at your own risk!

Here are the facts.

• Bottled Water - So you thought that "pure" bottled water was uncontaminated, and better than the stuff that comes out of the tap? Think again. And never trust labeling. Specific lots of Mountain Pure water are being recalled because of "biological contamination" (not spelled out..My guess, is that the bacterial count is too high, but I am checking further). If you have a weakened immune system avoid drinking 16.9 fl. oz. (506 ml.) size bottles, with Best By date of 2-27-2013 MPWA or 2-28-2013 MPWA. Healthy people should be OK, but you may want to play it safe.

• Platters with grape tomatoes - I said the Six L Packing Company recall would spread even further. Here we go again. Mann Packing is voluntarily recalling certain vegetable platters and Snacks on the Go products because the grape tomatoes used in them came from the Six L lot that have been found to be contaminated with Salmonella. Ah yes..and as of today, that includes Safeway’s Eating Right Veggie Party Platter (see next post for specifics, and the earlier one on Safeway and Grape Tomatoes).

• Chives - Goodness Gardens, Inc. of New Hampton, NY is voluntarily recalling Chives Lot # 0201111, because these chives may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Watch out pregnant women!

To your good health!

TSF

WHY ARE GRAPE TOMATOES CONTAMINATED?

An old friend in Australia asked me on my Facebook site whether I thought their grape tomatoes were also unsafe to eat. After I answered the question, something occurred to me. Perhaps she - and some other people - are thinking that the recently discovered Salmonella-bacteria contamination of some U.S. grape tomatoes has something to do with the nature of grape tomatoes themselves. That is, that grape tomatoes are less safe than other kinds of tomatoes.

That isn't the case. As far as I know, grape tomatoes are no more likely to carry pathogenic bacteria. And remember, in the current U.S. outbreak, all the tomatoes came from just one Florida farm which sent them to one Florida packer. Other grape tomatoes from other farms - as far as we know - are currently safe.

Any kind of tomato can become contaminated. Who knows, tomorrow we may hear of a recall of cherry tomatoes or plum tomatoes or Roma tomatoes. Over the years, we have had many incidents of contaminated fresh tomatoes, and Salmonella has been a common culprit. While they are growing, bacteria can get into growing tomatoes through contaminated irrigation water, fertilizer (especially if composting has not been properly done), from birds or insects or wildlife (such as those squirrels which are always trying to take a bite out of mine). While being sorted and packed, workers who are carriers of bacteria, viruses or parasites can also contaminate them. There have been cases when even the washing water was found to be the cause. Although fresh tomatoes are most likely to cause food poisoning, processed, as well as fresh tomatoes can carry bacteria and viruses. In 2010 there was a somewhat unusual small outbreak of Hepatitis A in France caused by sun-dried tomatoes (imported from Turkey). Basically, anything can happen.

So how can you keep eating those delicious fresh tomatoes and still be safe? There is no magic answer. Growing your own would certainly help (the photo is of one of my heritage tomatoes). And if you can't do that, there are studies which have shown that tomatoes still on the vine are safer than those off the vine.

TSF

"PURE" BOTTLED WATER, CHIVES AND MORE GRAPE TOMATOES RECALLED

You could have lunch on recalled food on a day like today: a "healthy" veggie plate with maybe Salmonella-contaminated tomatoes in it, chives with Listeria monocytogenes bacteria to sprinkle on top for extra flair and contaminated water to drink. Perhaps by the end of today we'll have some fish or meat product recalled as well. Welcome to industrialized food in the United States. Eat at your own risk!

Here are the facts.
• Bottled Water - So you thought that "pure" bottled water was uncontaminated, and better than the stuff that comes out of the tap? Think again. And never trust labeling. Specific lots of Mountain Pure water are being recalled because of "biological contamination" (not spelled out..My guess, is that the overall bacterial count is too high, but I am checking further). If you have a weakened immune system avoid drinking 16.9 fl. oz. (506 ml.) size bottles, with Best By date of 2-27-2013 MPWA or 2-28-2013 MPWA. Healthy people should be OK, but you may want to play it safe.

• Platters with grape tomatoes - I said the Six L Packing Company recall would spread even further. Here we go again. Mann Packing is voluntarily recalling certain vegetable platters and Snacks on the Go products because the grape tomatoes used in them came from the Six L lot that have been found to be contaminated with Salmonella. Ah yes..and as of today, that includes Safeway’s Eating Right Veggie Party Platter (see next post for specifics, and the earlier one on Safeway and Grape Tomatoes).

• Chives - Goodness Gardens, Inc. of New Hampton, NY is voluntarily recalling Chives Lot # 0201111, because these chives may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Watch out pregnant women!

To your good health!
TSF

CHECKING THE GRAPE TOMATOES IN MY LOCAL STORES

Labelling of produce can help to keep us safe. By U.S. law, fresh produce should be labeled according to its country-of-origin- U.S.A, Mexico,Canada, or whatever. This "COOL" law has applied to product since 2008 (it applies to other food products as well). All retailers, big and small, are supposed to comply. Packaged fresh produce items (in plastic bags, clam-shell containers, or whatever) are meant to have the country of origin on the label. Loose produce is supposed to show that information somewhere - as on a packing case underneath, or sign. That is, in theory.

So since I was out shopping a couple of days ago, I decided to pop into a few local stores and see how their grape tomato sales were doing. The answer - very well indeed. No one seemed to be worried about Salmonella.

My local Safeway was still selling them, with the country-of-orgin and distributor name visible on the packaging, and in the case of loose ones, readable if you more or less stood on your head. The small "local" produce market across the way (which, I have noticed, also sells a lot of products from Mexico, and even Asia) had some in those aqua plastic baskets (bought in bulk, and then repackaged, I assume) with no label or country-of-origin visible. I asked, and was told that "they were probably from the USA." No one in the store seemed to know who the distributor was. (By now we know that some loose tomatoes are being recalled as well).

At Trader Joe's they were still there, in the clam-shell packages that I had pictured in an earlier post. While Trader Joe’s, a national grocery chain, has indeed recalled certain lots of its Splendido Trader Joe's Little Tomatoes - for instance - in Ohio, I was told that these ones had come from a different farm. Well, we shall see. Let's hope they didn't even share the same packing line with the recalled ones.

To your good health!
TSF

THE GRAPE TOMATO RECALL EXPANDS

As I predicted (See post on "A Recall of Grape Tomatoes"), the recall of grape tomatoes in the U.S. has expanded. Today information about two more recalls of grape tomatoes landed in my mail box. Yes, Six L Packing Company, the Florida-based distributor, has been selling them to other clients in addition to Taylor Farms Pacific, Inc. of Tracy, California, and Mastronardi Produce of Ontario, Canada. After all, it packs over 15 million tomatoes a year. That's big business.

Here are two more. Although they don't have the large geographic coverage of the previous ones, they show that in this kind of recall, new risky items can keep popping up, and you can't predict where.

* Del Monte Fresh Produce is recalling a limited number of Vegetable Trays and Veg. Trio sold in Roche Bros. Supermarkets in the state of Massachusetts under the brand ROCHE BROS. because they may also have used Salmonella-contaminated tomatoes.

* Northeast Produce Inc. of Plainville, CT has also bought and used some of these potentially contaminated grape tomatoes from Six L. It is now recalling a number of clam-shell packaged and loose tomatoes. Presumably, these were sold locally, but I'm checking further. You never know. And of course, we run up against the usual confusion of different brand names - "Cutie Brand," "Fancy Sweet," and "Cherry Berries." (I am wondering whether I might try a new career in branding...). If you want the specifics, go to: http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm254548.htm.

Here's my advice for what it's worth. In any case of an outbreak at the level of a large food producer or distributor, I immediately assume that it is going to expand. What I therefore do, is to stop eating that particular kind of food (e.g. grape tomatoes, cilantro, cucumbers, or whatever) for a week or two, to give the government testing laboratories time to catch up and the company to come clean about all its clients. You may want to do the same. There are plenty of other kinds of good tomatoes.

To your good health!
TSF

SAFEWAY AND THE TOMATO RECALL

Safeway shoppers check your refrigerators!

Safeway stores are one of the several supermarkets involved in the latest tomato recall (see previous posts) which began with a recall by Six L Packers in Florida. First, Safeway stores sold Taylor Farms Pacific Inc. ready-to-eat fresh salads at the deli counter, several of which may contain Salmonella-infected grape tomatoes. The states in which these products were sold by Safeway include Arizona, Oregon, California, Nevada, Washington, New Mexico, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah.

Secondly, Safeway has discovered that the ready-to-cook kabobs (all kinds of fish, chicken, turkey, pork and sausage ones) in its full service meat counter were also made with Six L tomatoes, so a long list of kabobs are being recalled as well. These are likely to be less risky than the fresh salads because we would cook them.

The kabobs were sold between April 26 and May 3. The sell-by date on the packages are up to May 3. The kabobs were sold in Safeway, Vons, Pavilions, and Pak N Save stores in 10 states. If you don't want to return them to the store, you could also just pick off the tomatoes and throw them out.


TSF

A RECALL OF GRAPE TOMATOES

An industrialized food supply, such as the one in the United States, certainly makes food safety more difficult. Take the presently ongoing recall of grape tomatoes. It's Salmonella bacteria again (there are 30 posts on Salmonella already on this blog). Here are the facts so far - and I would guess that this recall will expand in the days to come.

It all started with a farm based in Estero, Florida, USA. They sent their grape tomatoes to Six L Packing Company, another Florida-based enterprise, that packages and distributes food products. According to Hoover's, Six-L packs and ships over 15 million boxes of tomatoes a year to other food companies and retailers in California, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia, as well as Canada. In New York, a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector found that some of these tomatoes tested positive for Salmonella bacteria. As often happens, the test results came a little late. At least two of Six L's clients had already sent them to our stores.

Taylor Farms Pacific Inc., which is based in Tracy, California, had used them to produce some 60 kinds of fresh salads. They were being sold in plastic trays at deli counters in key supermarkets including Albertsons, Raley's, Safeway, Savemart, Sam's Club and Walmart stores across the West and some Midwestern United States. (See post May 3).

Wait - it gets weirder. Mastronardi Produce of Kingsville, Ontario (yes, that's Canada), also received some of the Six L grape tomatoes and is selling them under labels of "Aldi From the Vine (where else would they come from?) Grape Tomatoes", "Sunset Grape Tomatoes", and "Trader Joe's Splendido Little Tomatoes" all in neat little clamshell packages. And where are these being sold? Well, back we come across the border to the U.S. The Trader Joe's ones are being sold only in Eastern Seaboard and Midwest Locations. The others are sold in several other states (IL, MI, WI, FL, MA, MD, NJ, MD, OH, TX, WI). Did you notice, by the way, that some of those cute little grape tomatoes came right back to Florida again - presumably, from Ontario, Canada, under a new name?

Now comes my punchline. On April 26 - just about a week ago - representatives of Mastronardi Produce/SUNSET® were in Washington DC to accept the prestigious Dupont Food Quality Award for 2010. This award honors a North American business for outstanding food safety initiatives (There is a nice photo on their website of the award presentation). Mastronardi Produce won because “all aspects of the business appear to be aligned toward producing high quality, safe food within a sustainable environment.”

Hmm..Bad luck Mastronardi. You had better change the source for your grape tomatoes if you want to get the award next year.

TSF

SALMONELLA OUTBREAK SEASON IS BEGINNING IN THE U.S.

Salmonella bacteria are a very common cause of food poisoning. Usually, the symptoms are ones like diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain or cramps, weakness, fever. These organisms can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, people with weakened immune systems and those who are frail or elderly. Some members of this family of bacteria are particularly vicious.

Most Salmonella outbreaks in the United States food supply, and particularly in fresh produce, occur in the spring or early summer…In other words, about now. And right on schedule, here we go. During the last 12 days, Salmonella has cropped up in several of those nice healthy foods most of us eat, which are now being recalled:

• In cucumbers, distributed by L&M Companies, Inc. of Raleigh, North Carolina. There aren’t many recalls of cucumbers, so this is somewhat unusual.
• In alfalfa sprouts, distributed by Jonathan's Sprouts of Rochester, MA. Alfalfa sprouts are one of the riskiest food you can eat, and every year there are a number of outbreaks and recalls.
• In cilantro, distributed to food service customers, by Satur Farms of Cutchogue, New York. Salmonella in cilantro is also not unusual.
• In grape tomatoes grown by Six L’s of Immokalee, Fla.. In turn, these tomatoes were used by Taylor Farms Pacific of Tracy, California, for some 70 different ready-to-eat salads for Albertsons, Raley's, Safeway, Savemart, Sam's Club, & Walmart. (Wouldn’t you think that a label which includes the word “Farms” would be growing their own produce instead of bringing it from Florida?). For the entire list of RTE products under recall, go to: http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm253580.htm (It is too long to reproduce here).
• And….......

There are more to come. Summer is just beginning. So is Salmonella season.

TSF