Iowa Public Television

 

Salmonella-Tainted Produce Poses Little Risk to Public

posted on November 3, 2006


Consumers in 19 states can now breathe a sigh of relief and go back to eating their vegetables. An outbreak of salmonella in 19 states appears to be over according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During the outbreak, which saw the highest number of cases in late September, 171 people became ill but there were no deaths.

So far, the CDC has been unable to pinpoint the source of the outbreak but health officials believe it was caused by contaminated tomatoes or other fresh vegetables. The CDC is continuing its investigation but has stated "there is little evidence of continuing risk to the public."

The states involved in the outbreak were Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Indian, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

This outbreak of salmonella is not associated with the outbreak of E. coli-tainted spinach in September that sickened almost 190 people and is confirmed to have killed an elderly Wisconsin woman.


Tags: diseases food safety news salmonella vegetables