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William Shatner Main Discussion - Killer Tomatoes!!

angel - Jun 10, 2008 - 08:34 PM
Post subject: Killer Tomatoes!!

CHICAGO - Federal officials hunted for the source of a 17-state salmonella outbreak linked to three types of raw tomatoes, while the list of supermarkets and restaurants yanking those varieties from shelves and menus grew.

McDonald’s, Wal-Mart, Burger King, Kroger, Outback Steakhouse, Winn-Dixie and Taco Bell were among the companies that voluntarily withdrew red plum, red Roma or round red tomatoes unless they were grown in certain states and countries.

In addition, officials at the Los Angeles Unified School District — the nation’s second largest — said Monday they have “indefinitely suspended” serving uncooked tomatoes.

The FDA is investigating the source of the outbreak, agency spokeswoman Kimberly Rawlings said. “We are working hard and fast on this one and hope to have something as quickly as possible,” Rawlings said Monday.

Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached and homegrown tomatoes are likely not the source of the outbreak, federal officials said.

Russel A. Daniels / AP
A sign on the door at McDonald's restaurant in downtown Chicago tells customers the fast food restaurant has stopped serving sliced tomatoes.

Also not associated with the outbreak are raw red Roma, red plum and round red tomatoes from Arkansas, California, Georgia, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, Netherlands and Puerto Rico.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that since mid-April, 167 people infected with salmonella with the same “genetic fingerprint” have been identified. At least 23 people have been hospitalized.

A 67-year-old cancer patient in Texas who health officials said was sickened by salmonella at a Mexican restaurant is believed to be the first death associated with the outbreak.

The death of Raul Rivera last week has been officially attributed to his cancer, but Houston health department spokeswoman Kathy Barton told the Houston Chronicle in Tuesday’s editions that the salmonella strain was a contributing factor.

Rivera’s wife said he was hospitalized after eating pico de gallo, a tomato-based condiment, in late May while celebrating good news about his cancer treatment.

Salmonella is a bacteria that lives in the intestinal tracts of humans and other animals. The bacteria are usually transmitted to humans by eating foods contaminated with animal feces.

Most infected people suffer fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps starting 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness tends to last four to seven days.

The Food and Drug Administration warned consumers in New Mexico and Texas as early as June 3 about the outbreak. The agency expanded its warning during the weekend and chains began voluntarily removing many red plum, red Roma or round red tomatoes from their shelves in response.

Unusual type, but not more virulent
The salmonella causing the outbreak is a very unusual type called salmonella saintpaul, said FDA Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach, who added it was not more virulent than other types of salmonella.

WHICH TOMATOES ARE SAFE?
The Food and Drug Adminstration has expanded its warning about a salmonella outbreak linked to certain raw, red Roma, plum and large round tomatoes to consumers nationwide. To report a problem, visit the FDA Web site.

These types of tomatoes are NOT likely to be the source of the outbreak, so they are considered safe to eat:

— Cherry tomatoes
— Grape tomatoes
— Tomatoes sold with the vine still attached
— Tomatoes grown at home
Red Roma, raw red round tomatoes from these states and countries have NOT been associated with the outbreak, so they are considered safe to eat:
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
Netherlands
Puerto Rico

If you're unsure where your tomatoes are from, contact the store or place of purchase for that information.

Source: Food & Drug Administration

McDonald’s, the world’s largest hamburger chain, stopped serving sliced tomatoes on its sandwiches as a precaution, but will continue serving grape tomatoes in its salads because no problems have been linked to that variety.

The decision didn’t upset Connie Semaitis, a 49-year-old travel agent in downtown Chicago, who bought a cheeseburger and a drink at a McDonald’s during lunch hour Monday.

“I’d rather be safe than sorry,” Semaitis said.

Tampa-based OSI Restaurant Partners LLC, which owns and operates eight brands including Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s and Bonefish Grill, said it stopped serving all raw tomatoes other than grape tomatoes on Saturday evening. The company also instructed restaurants to discard salsa and other prepared foods containing raw tomatoes.

Burger King Corp. said it had withdrawn raw round red tomatoes from most of its U.S. restaurants, as well as locations in Canada and Puerto Rico and some other Caribbean islands. Some California restaurants continued using the tomatoes because they buy from growers in states the FDA has said are not involved in the outbreak, Burger King said.

Other restaurant operators that stopped serving most tomatoes: Yum Brands Inc., which owns Taco Bell, KFC, Long John Silver’s and A&W All-American Food Restaurants; Darden Restaurants, which owns and operates six brands including Red Lobster and Olive Garden; Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.; and Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp., which operates Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes restaurants in 15 states.

Among retailers, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. — the largest grocery seller in the U.S. — is working with federal officials to ensure affected tomatoes are pulled from Wal-Marts, Neighborhood Markets and Sam’s Club warehouse stores nationwide, spokeswoman Deisha Galberth said.

Galberth said the company is modifying orders to its stores and putting an electronic block at its registers as an added safety measure to keep the recalled tomatoes from being purchased.

Cincinnati-based Kroger Co., the nation’s largest traditional grocery chain, said it pulled the three types of tomatoes from all its stores in 31 states on Sunday per the FDA advisory. The company had early last week pulled the tomatoes from stores in Texas and New Mexico.

Winn-Dixie Stores Inc., which operates 521 stores in five southern states, also stopped selling tomatoes involved in the FDA warning, as did Publix Super Markets Inc. Publix offered refunds to customers who bought the tomatoes before they were removed from shelves.

Trader Joe’s, with more than 280 grocery stores in 23 states, also stopped selling the tomatoes in question and offered refunds, according to a statement from spokeswoman Alison Mochizuki.

Giant Eagle, which has 223 supermarkets in western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and Maryland, said it also removed the tomatoes from store shelves; as did SuperValu Inc., which operates Jewel, Shaw’s, Cub Foods, Acme and some Albertson’s stores.

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littlestar - Jun 11, 2008 - 12:35 AM
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I'm off my salad now... Confused

MG - Jun 11, 2008 - 01:56 AM
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littlestar wrote:

I'm off my salad now... Confused

SMB - Jun 11, 2008 - 01:57 AM
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Someone somewhere is not properly cleaning the tomatoes. That is yukky!

Spock1 - Jun 11, 2008 - 02:07 PM
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Everyone should watch "Killer Tomatoes" at least once in their lifetime. Shocked

Johnny_Turbo - Jun 11, 2008 - 04:43 PM
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I'm so happy I went with the salsa verde at Neat-O Burrito instead of the pico de gallo!
http://www.neatoburrito.com/NB%20-%20Da ... ecials.htm

Isn't it wild they named the type of salmonella "saintpaul"? But if that's what von Eschenbach says, then I guess it's true.

Susie - Jun 11, 2008 - 07:55 PM
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There seems to be an awful lot of this going on in the past couple of years: cantaloupes, spinach, carrot juice, meat, pet food, etc. Now tomatoes! I wonder what's going on.

angel - Jun 12, 2008 - 04:12 AM
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Spock1 wrote:

Everyone should watch "Killer Tomatoes" at least once in their lifetime. Shocked

I've never watched that one before, but I did see a tomato attack my mom when she lifted the pressure cooker lid off a pot full of chili one time and a tomato came flying out of the pot and landed right on her neck! Gave her a heck of a scar! Shocked

angel - Jun 12, 2008 - 04:21 AM
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Johnny_Turbo wrote:

There's a good theology joke in this somewhere but at the moment it escapes me because the Thurs. special Chick in a Thai is making me hungry. Cool

angel - Jun 12, 2008 - 04:29 AM
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Susie wrote:

There seems to be an awful lot of this going on in the past couple of years: cantaloupes, spinach, carrot juice, meat, pet food, etc. Now tomatoes! I wonder what's going on.

I've noticed that too! Shocked

And it's downright scary. If I wasn't such a calm cool and collect person I'd be thinking conspiracy theories right now..... Shocked

Cat - Jun 14, 2008 - 04:38 PM
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angel wrote:

Spock1 wrote:

Everyone should watch "Killer Tomatoes" at least once in their lifetime. Shocked

You should rent it some time. Silly, but worth a few laughs.

Ouch, sorry to hear about your mom!

Nostromo - Jun 14, 2008 - 04:53 PM
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MG wrote:

littlestar wrote:

I'm off my salad now... Confused

Tastes like Florida. Wink

Cat - Jun 14, 2008 - 04:59 PM
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http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/pla ... 1293472505

Mr. Green

Mirizor - Jun 14, 2008 - 05:22 PM
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Cat wrote:

http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=attack+of+the+killer+tomatoes&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-501&tnr=21&vid=1293472505

Mr. Green

Have it on dvd. Wink

angel - Jun 14, 2008 - 05:51 PM
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Cat wrote:

angel wrote:

Spock1 wrote:

Everyone should watch "Killer Tomatoes" at least once in their lifetime. Shocked

You should rent it some time. Silly, but worth a few laughs.

Ouch, sorry to hear about your mom!

Thanks, Cat! Yeah, my mom was sorry when it happened! Laughing

She doesn't cook chili in a pressure cooker anymore that's for dang sure! Laughing

I really do have to watch that movie. I've heard it's a real weener...winner! Wink

I tried seeing the link you posted but it doesn't show Sad

That happened the other day when LittleStar posted a video link on the Rubber Room thread. I wonder if it's my firewall or something? Sad

If the movie's cheap enough I'll see if I can get a hold of a copy. I probably would like it! Laughing

The only vegetation horror movie that I couldn't stand was that Bruce Campbell one about nasty wood spirits. That was pure-D gross! Bleeeeech! I'm still traumatized after two years of seeing that one. And I borrowed that one from my mom! Rolling Eyes

Mirizor - Jun 14, 2008 - 06:21 PM
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angel wrote:

Cat wrote:

angel wrote:

Spock1 wrote:

Everyone should watch "Killer Tomatoes" at least once in their lifetime. Shocked

You should rent it some time. Silly, but worth a few laughs.

Ouch, sorry to hear about your mom!

Thanks, Cat! Yeah, my mom was sorry when it happened! Laughing

She doesn't cook chili in a pressure cooker anymore that's for dang sure! Laughing

I really do have to watch that movie. I've heard it's a real weener...winner! Wink

I tried seeing the link you posted but it doesn't show Sad

That happened the other day when LittleStar posted a video link on the Rubber Room thread. I wonder if it's my firewall or something? Sad

If the movie's cheap enough I'll see if I can get a hold of a copy. I probably would like it! Laughing

When I think Bruce Campbell I think.....

Spock1 - Jun 14, 2008 - 06:23 PM
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http://killertomatoes.com/

angel - Jun 14, 2008 - 09:33 PM
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Now that Bruce Campbell movie is my absolute favorite. I love Bubbahotep. Cool

Seems silly, but I cried when Elvis died in the movie. I loved the part when they were trying to decipher the hieroglyphics on the men's bathroom stall. Laughing

littlestar - Jun 18, 2008 - 09:08 PM
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OK THIS has put me off my salad-CLICK

MG - Jun 18, 2008 - 09:41 PM
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littlestar wrote:

OK THIS has put me off my salad-CLICK

Spock1 - Jun 18, 2008 - 09:56 PM
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MG wrote:

"I am not always confident that I am expressing myself in a way in which humans can understand."
-Data Very Happy

1000111001000111110001001010100000111111100011000000 Rolling Eyes

littlestar - Jun 18, 2008 - 11:18 PM
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That Slab of Dead Cow...LOOKS Good and probably smells really good...I love the smell and want it when I smell it...but it hurts my gut....and anyway...It looks like the State of Florida Wink

MG - Jun 19, 2008 - 02:25 AM
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Spock1 wrote:

MG wrote:

"I am not always confident that I am expressing myself in a way in which humans can understand."
-Data Very Happy

1000111001000111110001001010100000111111100011000000 Rolling Eyes

You wish.

Cat - Jun 19, 2008 - 03:13 AM
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And here I thought Florida tasted like chicken......... Shocked

MG - Jun 19, 2008 - 03:40 AM
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Florida-The Vegetative State
Florida-It's What's Cooking

Cat - Jun 19, 2008 - 10:51 AM
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