Sounds like a great weight-loss plan!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25023828/

Salmonella food poisoning first linked to uncooked tomatoes has spread to 16 states, federal health officials said Saturday.

Investigations by the Texas and New Mexico Departments of Health and the U.S. Indian Health Service have tied 56 cases in Texas and 55 in New Mexico to raw, uncooked, tomatoes.

"We're seeing a steady increase," Deborah Busemeyer, New Mexico Department of Health communications director, said Saturday.

An additional 50 people have been sickened by the same Salmonella "Saintpaul" infection in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

Investigators are trying to determine if raw tomatoes also are responsible for the illnesses in those states, said Arleen Porcell, a CDC spokeswoman.

The source of the tomatoes responsible for the illnesses has not been pinpointed, but health officials in Texas and New Mexico said none of them was grown in those two states.

At least 23 people have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported, she said. Patients ranged in age from 1 to 82.

The rarity of the Saintpaul strain and the number of illnesses "suggest that implicated tomatoes are distributed throughout the country," she said.

Interviews conducted with 73 people found the illnesses began between April 16 and May 27, Porcell said.

Source of outbreak
Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached and homegrown tomatoes are likely not the source of the outbreak, Busemeyer said.

Also not associated with the outbreak are raw Roma, red plum and round red tomatoes from Arkansas, California, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Belgium, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, Netherlands and Puerto Rico, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Association.

Salmonella is a bacteria that lives in the intestinal tracts of humans and other animals. It usually is transmitted to humans by eating food contaminated with animal feces.

Most infected people suffer fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps starting 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness tends to last four to seven days. Many people recover without treatment, but severe infection and death is possible.

Fascinating stuff. I think working in public health would be a fascinating career.

I went to subway on sunday, and the dude in front of me had a freaking fit because they had no tomatos, he literally stormed outa the place in a temper tantrum right in front of his wife and kids.

woe

Dodge wrote:I went to subway on sunday, and the dude in front of me had a freaking fit because they had no tomatos, he literally stormed outa the place in a temper tantrum right in front of his wife and kids.

woe

haha I did the same thing at McDonalds. Wtf sort of BLT bagel doesn't have tomatoes?

xtine wrote:

We went to Taco Bell for lunch and they had a big notice up on the drive-thru window.

Of course, anyone who gets that "fresco" on their food deserves a week of fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps.

TheWalrus wrote:

Dodge wrote:I went to subway on sunday, and the dude in front of me had a freaking fit because they had no tomatos, he literally stormed outa the place in a temper tantrum right in front of his wife and kids.

woe

haha I did the same thing at McDonalds. Wtf sort of BLT bagel doesn't have tomatoes?

there must be a rash of this. my old boss got into it with a mcdonald's manager because of a happy meal situation that had gone bad.

Aristotle wrote:

TheWalrus wrote:

Dodge wrote:I went to subway on sunday, and the dude in front of me had a freaking fit because they had no tomatos, he literally stormed outa the place in a temper tantrum right in front of his wife and kids.

woe

haha I did the same thing at McDonalds. Wtf sort of BLT bagel doesn't have tomatoes?

there must be a rash of this. my old boss got into it with a mcdonald's manager because of a happy meal situation that had gone bad.

wasn't really a happy meal after all

haha - no, it wasn't very happy.

Ascona wrote:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080391/

repost

Just saw a Burger King commercial that had a cross-promo tie in with the Indiana Jones movie...made a point to show the guy slinging tomatoes onto a Whopper like he was cracking a whip. Yeah, that's not happening today.

big_jesus wrote:

Ascona wrote:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080391/

repost

sorry