FDA has released a press statement on June 7th ‘08 the list of states where salmonella infested tomatoes are available in the market. FDA published a list of states, territories, and countries where tomatoes are grown and harvested which have not been associated with this outbreak.

This updated list includes:

Arkansas, California, Georgia, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, Netherlands, and Puerto Rico. The list is available at www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/tomatoes.html#retailers. This list will be updated as more information becomes available.

The infested states list is as follows

Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. Salmonella Saintpaul is an uncommon type of Salmonella.

If you notice , California is included in both the infested and safe states, So Im thoroughly confused about this.

FDA is not formally announcing to consume the tomatoes in a cooked form lest consumers dont cook the tomatoes thoroughly. Cooking kills salmonella.

On the do-not-eat list are raw red plum, red Roma or red round tomatoes, unless they were grown in specific states or countries that the FDA has cleared because they were not harvesting when the outbreak began or were not selling their tomatoes in places where people got sick.

Please take care and be healthy . Be sure of the produce you buy.

Have a great Day!!

Source : Yahoo News , FDA.gov