Tomatoes get OK in Florida, California
TEXT OF STORY
Scott Jagow: The government is starting to get to the bottom of this tomato scare. The FDA says tomatoes harvested after May 1 in California and Florida are safe to eat. But the feds still haven’t determined where the outbreak of salmonella started.
That doesn’t mean you can order a salad tonight for dinner and expect to see tomatoes on it. Restaurants and grocery stores are still being very careful. But the all-clear for Florida and California will certainly help. More from Ashley Milne-Tyte.
Ashley Milne-Tyte: The FDA has already OK’d tomatoes from various other states like Maryland. But they’re states that have only just started their harvests. So they weren’t shipping many tomatoes anyway — certainly not enough to replenish empty grocery shelves around the country.
Amy Philpott is with the United Fresh Produce Association. She says Florida, on the other hand, is such a big producer that tomato buyers can breathe a sight of relief.
Amy Philpott: So now that Florida is back into the shipping it means that we’ll have supplies to all restaurants and supermarkets.
She says when the tomato ban came down, Florida already had tons of tomatoes in the supply chain. Now the ban has been lifted, those tomatoes can be released immediately. She says tomatoes should be back on shelves and menus within a day or two.
I’m Ashley Milne-Tyte for Marketplace.
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