Illnesses Linked to Raw Tomatoes

Tuesday, June 3- An outbreak of salmonella food poisoning has been found to be linked to uncooked tomatoes. These reporting have been reported in 17 US states causing 167 people to be infected. Out of that 167, 23 people have been hospitalized by a rare strain of potentially fatal bacteria. Fast food restaurants, super-markets, anywhere that sells tomatoes was forced to remove the stock from the shelves and meals due to a warning from the FDA. "At this time, consumers should limit their tomato consumption to tomatoes that have not been implicated in the outbreak. These include cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, and tomatoes grown at home," the FDA said in a statement. Companies like McDonalds removed tomatoes from their sandwiches and salads but returned to using them when they did not hear any complaints of sickness from their customers.

In 1885, Daniel E. Salmon, an American scientist who played an important part in putting the first U.S. meat inspections in place discovered the organism that causes hog cholera, which is now known as Salmonella Choleraesius. Although the illness is named after him, he was not the one who actually discovered it. His assistant, Theobald Smith actually discovered the bacterium. So much for taking all the credit.