Salmonella: Are Tomatoes From Local Farms Safer? | Newsweek Health

The Tomato Pickle

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Florida's new record-keeping rules may be key to protecting the industry in the future. Tracing contamination is much more difficult with produce than it is with a packaged product, like cereal, where there are tracking codes stamped on the box, says Roberts. It requires documentation at every stage, from where the tomato seeds were purchased to which labor crews were used to where the produce was sold or repacked. But the benefits are there for farmers, even if the paperwork seems onerous, says Roberts. "If there's a possibility you could be involved in some sort of outbreak, you want to be able to pull out a record and show that you were doing what you were supposed to be doing."

In the meantime, some wary consumers may decide to rediscover the pleasures of an old-fashioned backyard garden.

I read that tomato producers say that the salmonella outbreak is killing their business. What a surprise that people actually use caution in their food choices. What else did you expect? Tomato growers didn't want "country-of-origin" labelling and they had their way with the business-friendly Bush administration, so now almost all tomato crops are suspect. That's called "karma". It means that we all are affected by the good or bad results of our actions. So, now we know how the Bush food regulation system works: if your industry produces bad food - even if your farm didn't produce it - people just don't eat your product until all food poisoning cases stop for a few months. This could actually turn vegetable growers into firm believers in strict food inspection standards and swift correction of those who violate those standards. What a revelation!!! So, all those silly, stupid and boring regulations established long ago - and most recently ignored by the Bush administration - actually have a real purpose!!

Instead of arguing over people's spelling or their atrocious grammar, why don't the comments here focus on the real question. It isn't about migrants and illegals going to the bathrooms in the fields, American workers would do the same thing. Ever see someone relieving themselves on the side of the road less than a mile from a reststop? And not all migrants are illegals and not all illegals have disgusting bathroom habits. I don't think that personal hygene is in anyway related to your citizenship status. It's also not about local farms being better than corporate farms. I grew up on a small farm but I'm not against corporate agribusiness. They can be far more efficient than local farms and use far less fuel per pound of production. Does that mean I wouldn't prefer to buy local? Of course not. Bring money into local farms, get fresher, tastier produce, but don't blame corporate farms for ruining the world. Many small local farmers use many of the same fertilizing techniques as large corporate farms, just on a smaller scale. Water that's being used for washing fruit is generally taken from a municipal water supply, not from the cattle trough or from an irrigation ditch. The real question is and should be who is responsible for the out break, what should be done about it, and how can we prevent them in the future. Wash your food before you eat it, cook it thoroughly, wash your hands, these are all common sense and they'd go a long way to prevent food outbreaks, but people don't bother. It doesn't need to be irradiated or anything else. The human race has survived for millenia without irradiating their food. Americans just need to be more careful about what they eat and how they're handling it. I don't know how anyone can say that a tomato with a stem still attached is any safer than one without. The stems can droop and the tomato can still touch the ground.

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Posted By: smokey_joe @ 07/04/2008 11:59:11 PM

I read that tomato producers say that the salmonella outbreak is killing their business. What a surprise that people actually use caution in their food choices. What else did you expect? Tomato growers didn't want "country-of-origin" labelling and they had their way with the business-friendly Bush administration, so now almost all tomato crops are suspect. That's called "karma". It means that we all are affected by the good or bad results of our actions. So, now we know how the Bush food regulation system works: if your industry produces bad food - even if your farm didn't produce it - people just don't eat your product until all food poisoning cases stop for a few months. This could actually turn vegetable growers into firm believers in strict food inspection standards and swift correction of those who violate those standards. What a revelation!!! So, all those silly, stupid and boring regulations established long ago - and most recently ignored by the Bush administration - actually have a real purpose!!
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Posted By: davej82 @ 06/17/2008 8:40:47 PM

Who's bribing who?
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Posted By: osprey112897@msn.com @ 06/17/2008 10:17:07 AM

Instead of arguing over people's spelling or their atrocious grammar, why don't the comments here focus on the real question. It isn't about migrants and illegals going to the bathrooms in the fields, American workers would do the same thing. Ever see someone relieving themselves on the side of the road less than a mile from a reststop? And not all migrants are illegals and not all illegals have disgusting bathroom habits. I don't think that personal hygene is in anyway related to your citizenship status. It's also not about local farms being better than corporate farms. I grew up on a small farm but I'm not against corporate agribusiness. They can be far more efficient than local farms and use far less fuel per pound of production. Does that mean I wouldn't prefer to buy local? Of course not. Bring money into local farms, get fresher, tastier produce, but don't blame corporate farms for ruining the world. Many small local farmers use many of the same fertilizing techniques as large corporate farms, just on a smaller scale. Water that's being used for washing fruit is generally taken from a municipal water supply, not from the cattle trough or from an irrigation ditch. The real question is and should be who is responsible for the out break, what should be done about it, and how can we prevent them in the future. Wash your food before you eat it, cook it thoroughly, wash your hands, these are all common sense and they'd go a long way to prevent food outbreaks, but people don't bother. It doesn't need to be irradiated or anything else. The human race has survived for millenia without irradiating their food. Americans just need to be more careful about what they eat and how they're handling it. I don't know how anyone can say that a tomato with a stem still attached is any safer than one without. The stems can droop and the tomato can still touch the ground.