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November 27th, 2007 categories: Around Town, Community, Local Knowledge, Real Estate
Rooting Out the Rotten Tomatoes
By CLAIRE SUDDATH
So how much damage can a few rotten tomatoes really do? The tomato-linked salmonella outbreak announced by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on June 3 has claimed 228 victims in 23 states over 58 days (and counting). It has put 25 people in the hospital and may have had a role in hastening the death of a cancer patient. And then there’s the flurry of panic as many of the tomatoes that American consumers take for granted every day suddenly disappear — from McDonald’s hamburgers; from the salsa at Chipotle Mexican Grill; from Burger King, Taco Bell and Sonic; and from the grocery shelves at Kroger, Wal-Mart and Target. Didn’t we just go through this with bagged spinach? With peanut butter? With pet food?
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Because the FDA’s tomato-recall recommendation is so specific — including only three types, grown in certain regions during a certain time — and because many national chains pulled their tomato stock within days of the announcement, most of the infected samples have likely been removed. But the outbreak remains ongoing; its source has not yet been determined, and the government is investigating new cases every day. It may be a few more weeks before the delicious staple fruit is given the all-clear.
Taking tomatoes off shelves and menus may contain the outbreak, but it doesn’t explain it. On May 22, the New Mexico Health Department notified the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that it knew of seven people recently infected with Salmonella Saintpaul, an unusual strand of the bacteria that accounted for only 400 of the 1.4 million cases of salmonella infection reported last year. And it was precisely because occurrences of the Saintpaul strand are so rare that the report caught the CDC’s attention. When Texas and a few other states reported cases of people being infected by bacteria with the same “genetic fingerprint,” a multistate search for Salmonella Saintpaul was launched. While the CDC tracked reported illnesses, the FDA interviewed victims to find out what they had eaten (and where). The common answer was tomatoes.
There have been 13 outbreaks of salmonella in tomatoes since 1990, which puts the fruit on the list of high-risk foods that are prone to infection. But unlike the bagged spinach from the 2006 E. Coli scare, the tomatoes don’t come with a traceable bar code. “When you’re dealing with tomatoes, it is much, much more complex,” explains Dr. David Acheson, the FDA’s associate commissioner for foods. The FDA’s great tomato hunt has an ever-expanding list of suspects. A salmonella victim can point to the supermarket (or restaurant) that sold the offending fruit, but that store probably sources its tomatoes from several suppliers, each of which uses several distributors — and distributors buy from any number of growers.
“Each set of questions just multiplies into a fan of information that has to be sorted through to understand where the links cross over,” says Acheson. Although the FDA has managed to rule out some regions — northern Florida is safe because its tomatoes weren’t ready for harvest at the time of the outbreak — it will be some time until the true source is found. “We’re not quite there yet,” says Acheson, “but we’re getting very close.” But Dr. Ian Williams, chief of the CDC’s OutbreakNet team, warns that the source may never be found due to the fruit’s short shelf life. “You don’t expect to find an infected tomato sitting on someone’s counter 10 days after the outbreak,” says Williams.
Still, the lag time between the initial outbreak and the government’s reaction is startling: the first Salmonella Saintpaul victim fell ill on April 16, but the FDA didn’t announce the tomato link until June 3. Williams says part of the problem identifying salmonella outbreaks is that a lot of victims don’t see the symptoms — diarrhea, fever, vomiting — as sufficiently severe to warrant a visit to the doctor, and so they go undiagnosed. “There may be a delay in reporting outbreaks because people do not have a stool specimen tested,” he says. Officials have not yet identified an infected tomato, and because of the fruit’s short shelf life, they probably never will.
The FDA unveiled a tomato-safety initiative in 2007 that sought to identify causes of salmonella infection, but Acheson admits that studying preventive techniques doesn’t help the FDA deal with outbreaks. The FDA has no plans to change the initiative in the face of the recent outbreak.
Even if the FDA can pinpoint the source of the outbreak, it’s hard for consumers to know where their tomatoes are grown. Certain imported foods are required to carry country-of-origin labels, but that doesn’t apply to domestic produce. “I’m not aware of any tomato outbreak that was not domestic,” says Acheson. There is no such thing as a mandatory state-of-origin label for food, and federal authorities have yet to create such a law. “Saying ‘product of the U.S.’ isn’t necessarily going to confer safety,” he says. So much for reassurance.
Vi ste jeben.
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City planning is so crucial when a Master Plan is made. I think that is why Pleasanton has had so much success. Thanks for the great update John. Do you know if they plan to have any mixed use properties like in Dublin?
A well-planned city center will create lots of tax money, wealth - and congestion. It sounds like a good plan. But . . . I’m one of those who sees great wisdom in what Pleasanton and Livermore has done in preserving open space and parks, too. Are there more recreational areas planned? Sports fields? Dog parks? Will access to the preserves in the hills be improved? Will there be a “Lake Elizabeth” kind of park? I know that many real estate people have some difficulty in seeing land set aside for such, but these kind of areas are also what forms the character and heart of a city.
Rod,
Thanks for your reply. I’m completely with you regarding the loss of beautiful open spaces and, you are correct about the congestion. I loved those gladiola and farm type fields that have become a thing of the past. They were actually what I liked best about Union City and hated to see them go. Union City has not historically had high enough property values to cover things like parks and recreation areas partly due to the lack of commerce. Big business has not wanted to set up shop here because they could not see enough ROI (return on investment) to warrant spending their development dollars. In addition, maintenance of parks and green spaces like those in lovely Pleasanton costs money that Union City simply does not have in the budget. They currently have to work hard just to cover the cost of keeping up the medians around town. As you know, in the case of Pleasanton they have the HIGH property values and even HIGHER property taxes that go toward paying for those parks and recreation departments as well as road improvements throughout that city. I think by developing a world class, state of the art downtown center here and increasing the city’s tax income from construction and commerce, positive changes are on the way and may bring new consumers into the city to spend time and money living, shopping and working here. What would then inevitably follow would be more money in the city coffers for those great parks, soccer fields and who knows maybe even our own Union City “Lake Elizabeth” type environment. Wouldn’t that be great? In addition, the new downtown is being constructed on the sites of former industrial buildings and the PG&E pipe yard that had always been a major eye sore. I think the new plans will be a nicer use of that space however; I’m not sure about the multi story towers coming to the area as I don’t think they will fit in from an aesthetic standpoint. We’ll see. I haven’t heard anything in the plans for the type of spaces you inquired about. I think the goal for the downtown is much like what they have done in San Jose at Santana Row and Hayward in creating an Urban Environment which will make it more pedestrian friendly.
Hi John,
Sounds like your home community is seeing the importance of making the heart of Union City more attractive to it’s own people. A win win situation for all. In my home town of Livermore I must say that we have been enjoying going downtown more and more since it has been renewed and updated with a new movie theater,performing arts theater and resturants.I truly believe that building the new townhouses and condos helps people live and work in their own community. Again a win win situation for all! Thanks for sharing! Keep me posted!
Nancy
I didn’t mean to imply I thought the development of a viable downtown was a bad idea: I don’t. There has to be a large enough tax base to support the city. All the retail on the other side of the freeway is a wonderful development for the city, but something based around the BART station is also needed. I don’t like the idea of a high rise, though.
I was hoping that some vacant land could be set aside for future park development. I know there aren’t sufficient funds now. But there is still vacant land around. Or maybe it’s all been tied up by developers already?
And it already looks a lot nicer than when the iron works were there! I remember that too, as well as the gorgeous gladiola fields. I used to go back and forth on Mission to Army Reserve meetings in Oakland, before 880 was built. It was once a lovely drive.
I think the growth will be great for Union City. It is about time for the city to “expand its horizons” and develop into something more. Though the initial taxes on homeowners and retail might pinch a bit, the gain of equity in homes in the surrounding area will be far more substantial in the end.
Great Blog!