By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C.. — As the outbreak of salmonella from tomatoes spreads across the country, the nation’s chief food safety agency seems to be narrowing the likely sources of the disease by process of elimination, releasing updated information about what areas are not creating the problem.

Thus far, 383 people have been affected by the illness in 30 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Indicators are pointing to southern Florida and Mexico as being the likely sources, because at this time of year most of the tomatoes consumed in the United States come from those two regions.

Dr. David Acheson, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) food safety chief said in an Associated Press interview, however, that its search isn’t restricted only to those locations.

“The logical assumption would be that Florida or Mexico are the most likely source. But we have not simply shifted the focus to those two places. ... It’s wide open for anybody not on that exclusion list,” he said.

Ironically, it was just one year ago the FDA implemented a Tomato Safety Initiative in an effort to combat the problem of tomato-related foodborne illness in the U.S. At that time, Dr. Robert Brackett, director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said, “This initiative is part of a strategy to reduce foodborne illness by focusing food safety assessments on specific products, practices and growing areas that have been found to be problematic in the past.”

Not counting the latest, there have been 12 different illness outbreaks related to tomatoes over the last 10 years.  The safety initiative focused efforts on products from Florida and the eastern shore of Virginia where the majority of the problems started, but tomato-related outbreaks also have been traced to tomatoes from California, Georgia, Ohio and South Carolina.

During this rash of illnesses, all of those states have been placed on the FDA’s “safe list,” with the exception of Florida, which has only 19 counties confirmed as safe at press time.

The purpose of the safety program was to identify practices or conditions that potentially would lead to product contamination, allowing the FDA to continue to improve its guidance and policy on tomato safety and evaluate the need for additional produce safety research, education and outreach.

As a method of easing concerns over Florida tomatoes, the state’s Agriculture Consumer Services commissioner, Charles H. Bronson, announced that tomatoes currently being harvested in areas deemed safe will include a “Fresh from Florida” label and/or point of purchase materials upon request.

 “We want to reach out to make sure our tomatoes not only make it to the retail shelves but also into consumer’s shopping carts,” Bronson said. “When they see the ‘Fresh from Florida’ logo, they will know exactly where the tomatoes were grown.”

In Mexico, the scare has created an economic nightmare for producers. Eight countries have been cleared by the FDA but Mexico isn’t one of them – and with an estimated 80 percent of U.S. tomato imports coming from Mexico, the outbreak could be economically disastrous for its tomato industry if the source isn’t soon discovered.