Tomato concerns subside among area diners, restaurants

0 Comments | Philadelphia Daily News, June, 2008 | by JOSHUA MELLMAN mellmaj@phillynews.com 215-854-5218

Local restaurant owners, retailers and customers are seeing business return to normal following the scare about salmonella-infected tomatoes.

Since mid-April, tomatoes tainted with salmonella, a bacterium found in the intestinal tracts of certain animals, have led to 228 reported cases of salmonellosis nationwide, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware are among 37 states that have been ruled out by the FDA as possible sources of the outbreak, and no cases of the illness have been reported in those three states.

Melissa McDermott, marketing specialist for Whole Foods Market in Philadelphia and New Jersey, said that although certain kinds of tomatoes had been removed from the shelves, the outbreak hasn't stopped its...