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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Florida tomato industry in "complete collapse"
  • Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:56:42 -0600


People still trust the farmers market though. I'm growing three times the
tomatoes from last season.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net
------------------------------------------

Florida tomato industry in "complete collapse"
Tue Jun 10, 2008 11:15am EDT

MIAMI (Reuters) - Florida's tomato industry is in "complete collapse" and $40
million worth of tomatoes will rot unless federal regulators quickly trace
the source of a salmonella outbreak and clear the state's produce, an
industry official said on Tuesday.

"We probably have $40 million worth of product we can't sell. We've had to
stop packing, stop picking," said Reggie Brown, executive vice president of
the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Saturday warned U.S. consumers that
the outbreak was linked to eating certain raw red plum, red Roma, and red
round tomatoes, and products containing these tomatoes. Several major
restaurant and grocery chains have stopped selling those varieties.

"It fundamentally shut down the industry," he said. "The stuff that should
have been harvested over the weekend won't survive more than another day or
so. The stuff we have in storage is getting riper every minute and at some
point it will have to be disposed of."

Florida is the largest tomato-producing state, with a crop valued at $500
million to $700 million annually, he said. The state produces more than 90
percent of the nation's tomatoes this time of year, Brown said.

The FDA has said that it is safe to eat cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes and
tomatoes sold with the vine still attached. But those varieties account for
only a tiny portion of the industry, Brown said.

The FDA has said it does not know where the contaminated tomatoes originated.

The infections have struck most often in New Mexico and Texas.

"We're very interested in seeing the FDA bring resolution to this and also
would like to express concern for those who've fallen ill," Brown told
Reuters.

The FDA said there had been 145 reported cases as of Saturday, including at
least 23 hospitalizations, related to the outbreak since mid-April. The
infections were caused by Salmonella Saintpaul, an uncommon type of the
bacteria.

Salmonella bacteria are frequently responsible for food-borne illnesses.
Symptoms generally appear within 12 to 72 hours after eating infected food
and include fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.









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