Outbreak scare

Penny Harper, cook at Mama Possum’s, prepares a burger topped with a tomato slice Monday. The restaurant is of one local eatery that did not take the vegetable off its menu following the scare of a salmonella outbreak.

By: Denice Thibodeau | GoDanRiver
Published: June 10, 2008

Tomatoes were no longer available Monday at some restaurants in Danville. Applebee’s and Backyard Burgers were among those not serving sandwiches, entrees and side items with tomatoes as a result of a Food and Drug Administration warning that certain raw tomatoes could be contaminated with salmonella bacteria.

Lucy Hutcherson, Applebee’s manager on duty, said tomatoes were taken off the menu over the weekend.

“As of yesterday (Sunday), we’re not selling anything from South Carolina or Florida,” Hutcherson said.

Backyard Burgers likewise removed tomatoes from the menu as a result of the FDA alert.

“They called us from Nashville and told us what to do,” Sherry Davis, manager on duty Monday afternoon, said. “We haven’t had any complaints.”

Some local restaurants did not appear effected by the tomato scare.

Penny Harper, the cook at Mama Possums, said, “I found out about it (the warning) yesterday. But ours are from North Carolina and are home grown.”

Barry Halsey said Schoolfield Lunch received a shipment of tomatoes from Raleigh, N.C. Halsey said Schoolfield Lunch does not use Roma tomatoes for sandwiches and salads.

“That leaves us out,” he said.

Clifton Glasscock, general manager of Buffalo Wild Wings, said tomatoes were taken off the menu for a couple of days, but were brought back on Monday.

“We don’t get our tomatoes from Texas or New Mexico, which seem to have salmonella,” he said.

The alert began with consumers in Texas and New Mexico being warned June 3 about a salmonellosis outbreak linked to consumption of certain raw tomatoes.

On Saturday, the FDA expanded that warning nationwide.

According to the FDA, red plum, red Roma and red round tomatoes — and products containing those raw tomatoes — should not be eaten unless consumers, retailers and restaurants know where they were grown.

Tomatoes grown in the following areas have not been associated with the outbreak and are considered safe: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, the Netherlands and Puerto Rico.

The FDA also said cherry, grape and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, from any source, are also safe.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Web site says salmonellosis is an infection caused by salmonella bacteria. People with the infection develop diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after being infected by eating the tainted food. Most people, the CDC says, recover without treatment in four to seven days.

The CDC noted, however, that the diarrhea could become severe, requiring hospitalization. Infants, the elderly and people with impaired immune systems are more likely to have a severe form of the illness.

Since the middle of April, 145 cases have been reported across the country, with 23 requiring hospitalization. At least one case has been reported in Virginia; none have been reported in North Carolina.

Contact Denice Thibodeau at dthibodeau@registerbee.com or (434) 791-7985.

Staff writer Bernard Baker contributed to this story.