Restaurants, food suppliers pulling tomatoes

By Nichole Aksamit

Jun. 10, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) --

It's a budget-minded buyer's nightmare and a homegrown tomato's dream come true: a growing outbreak of salmonella linked to some of the most ubiquitous, reliable and affordable tomatoes on the market.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this past weekend began advising consumers nationwide not to eat -- and retailers and restaurants not to sell -- raw red Roma or plum tomatoes and raw red round tomatoes grown in certain parts of North America.

Monday found area restaurants, groceries and food suppliers voluntarily pulling Mexico- and Florida-grown varieties of those tomatoes from menus, shelves and trucks and seeking alternative types and sources of the perennial favorites.

The FDA has given the green light to tomatoes grown in certain states and countries. The agency also said its warning does not apply to cherry or grape tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes, and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, regardless of their origin.

Rather than go tomato-less, some restaurants were turning to those more-expensive varieties.

"I just have to go back to my chefs and say, 'Pony up and buy vine-ripes for your sandwiches, and use cherries or grapes to garnish your pizzas,'" said Gary Hoffman, corporate executive chef and partner at Omaha's Upstream Brewing Co.

National news reports said that McDonald's stopped serving sliced tomatoes on sandwiches nationwide on Monday and that Taco Bell and Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG) also halted serving raw tomatoes.

In Nebraska and Iowa, Baker's, Hy-Vee and No Frills Supermarkets pulled the implicated tomatoes from store shelves Monday and played up cherry, grape and on-the-vine varieties.

Representatives for all three grocery chains encouraged concerned customers to return recently purchased tomatoes for refunds, because it can be difficult to determine post-sale where a tomato came from.

"When we get Romas in, in a week's time we may get them from five different growers, and the only label's on the box," said Gary Wesely, produce director for No Frills. "So it's hard for us to know where a single purchase came from. It's a real headache is what it is."

Wesely said the company is looking for locally grown hothouse tomatoes, as well as those from other states not tied to the outbreak.

Some stores and restaurants also were playing up local -- or at least closer-to-home -- tomatoes.

Baker's plans to introduce an Arkansas slicing tomato billed as a "homegrown variety arriving at the peak of its season" at stores this week. WheatFields began telling customers Monday that they are "100 percent local until further notice" when it comes to tomatoes, said co-owner Ron Popp.

Popp said the Omaha and Papillion WheatFields restaurants typically use lots of Romas. But they were gearing up to feature greenhouse tomatoes from O'Neill, Neb. "So we will be using them for the duration of the summer."

San Diego Taco in west Omaha already uses tomatoes from O'Neill.

"The products I use are not affected by the outbreak," said chef and owner Paul Pleskach.

The FDA said Saturday that nationwide since mid-April, there had been 145 reported cases of sickness, including at least 23 hospitalizations, caused by the somewhat uncommon Salmonella Saintpaul. That's up from the 57 Salmonella Saintpaul cases the agency reported earlier last week.

States reporting illnesses linked to the outbreak are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, particularly in the young, the elderly or those with weakened immune systems. Fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain are common symptoms.

The FDA advises those who have recently eaten raw tomatoes and are experiencing such symptoms to contact a health care provider. Salmonella infections should be reported to state or local health authorities. A spokeswoman for the Nebraska Health and Human Services System said Nebraska is investigating one possible Saintpaul case, though it is pending DNA confirmation and it may have resulted from travel to another state, not tomatoes consumed in Nebraska.

A spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Public Health did not return a phone call.

--Contact the writer: 444-1069, nichole.aksamit@owh.com

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