"FDA finds link in salmonella cases; Agency is still seeking source" by Bloomberg News | June 14, 2008
WASHINGTON - Nine people who contracted salmonella associated with raw tomatoes ate at two restaurants that are part of the same chain, according to the head of the Food and Drug Administration.
The FDA commissioner, Andrew von Eschenbach, described the cases yesterday in an e-mail. While von Eschenbach didn't name the restaurants or their locations, the Chicago health department said nine people developed salmonella in that city after eating at a local restaurant.
The salmonella outbreak has sickened 228 people in 23 states, according to US health officials, who are still trying to determine where the tomatoes were grown.
The "vast majority" of tomatoes in national distribution at the time the outbreak occurred were from Florida and Mexico, David Acheson, the FDA's associate commissioner for foods, said yesterday.
Identifying a group of people who ate at the same location helps the FDA trace the source of the produce, said Acheson. The nine cases are among a number of clues being pursued by the FDA, he said. Acheson also declined to name the restaurant chain or location, saying the information is confidential and part of an ongoing investigation....
While the restaurant has multiple locations in the Chicago area, it isn't part of a national chain.... The FDA hasn't yet sent investigators to farms because the agency hasn't narrowed where the contamination may have started, Acheson said.
Also see: The Failing FDA
"What our investigators are doing right now is they are visiting the suppliers, the distributors, the importers to get the records that we need to put a nail into the trace-back," Acheson said."
What, they don't keep records? And WTF?!
Why do they have to crawl up my communications but with spying tools when they CAN'T EVEN TRACE the SAFETY of FOOD?!
This government DOESN'T GIVE A TOMATO about you or me, readers.
Just read my posts for today!
