More restaurants and retailers in Canada and the U.S. are clearing their stocks of tomatoes suspected of triggering a salmonella outbreak in the U.S. that has sickened 167 people.
Tim Hortons, Taco Bell, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut and McDonald's are among the restaurants in Canada to have removed raw tomatoes from their menus. In the U.S., Long John Silver's, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Giant Eagle, Trader Joe's, Winn-Dixie and Wal-Mart have stopped making tomatoes available.
Rick McNabb, a spokesman for Cara Foods, said raw tomatoes are no longer being served at Milestones, Montana's, Harvey's and Kelsey's.
"As the FDA started to identify more specifically where the affected regions could be, that's when we decided to take the steps as a precaution to stop serving the fresh tomato products right away," he said.
Canada's food watchdog says it will not issue a tomato recall until a definitive link between tomatoes and the outbreak has been demonstrated. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said restaurants are removing tomatoes from their menus as a precaution. No illnesses have been reported in Canada.
"At this point, the U.S. FDA has not initiated any recall action with regard to any specific products," said CFIA spokesman Garfield Balsom. "Their investigation is still ongoing. ...[They are] looking into the source but at this point have not identified a source."
The CFIA says consumers should wash tomatoes thoroughly under running water and wash their hands with soap and warm water before and after handling tomatoes.
Common symptoms of salmonella infection include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea, although more serious consequences are possible, especially in children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems.
167 people infected, 23 treated in hospital
According to the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 167 people have been infected with the same strain of salmonella since mid-April. At least 23 people have been treated in hospital. Illnesses have been reported in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Texas health officials say the salmonella infection likely contributed to the death of Raul Rivera, a 67-year-old cancer patient.
Meanwhile, the tomato industry warned failure to resolve the food poisoning outbreak could prove disastrous for growers. Reggie Brown, the executive vice-president of the Florida Tomato Growers, said $40 million US worth of tomatoes could be left to spoil if Food and Drug Administration investigators fail to pinpoint a solution to the problem.
"We've had to stop packing, stop picking," Brown told Reuters. "It fundamentally shut down the industry."
The FDA is urging consumers not to consume raw red Roma, raw red plum and raw red round tomatoes. The federal agency noted however that tomatoes grown in the following places have not been linked to the outbreak: Canada, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Belgium, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, the Netherlands, and Puerto Rico.
The outbreak has also not been linked with cherry or grape tomatoes, or tomatoes sold with the vines still attached, the FDA said.
With files from the Associated Press