Published: June 11, 2008 11:21 am         

Farmer’s Market tomatoes a slice above

Homegrown has special a-peel

San Marcos — Home grown tomatoes were at the top of Tracie Ferguson’s list when she stopped by the Hays County Farmer’s Market Tuesday afternoon.

“Tomatoes are what I came for,” she said, though she left the stand with onions and cucumbers too.

Her appetite was shared by many of the two dozen or so shoppers milling around despite the near 100 degree heat. Since health advisories last week linking many types of tomatoes with salmonella, restaurants and grocery stores have cut back on their offerings.

But all the advisories stressed that tomatoes with the vine still attached, as well as cherry and grape varieties, were safe. Along with, of course, the home grown variety that farmers bring to the market each week.

Tiffany Bush of Stockdale said Tuesday’s tomato sales were brisk, perhaps due in part to a mass e-mail she sent out shortly after the salmonella outbreak was reported.

Back in the late 1980s, she recalled, there was a similar scare involving watermelons.

“We had a whole field of watermelons we could not get rid of,” she remembered, figuring the e-mail could accomplish an end-around for any that might be worried.

“Home grown tomatoes are safe to eat,” she said. “Tomatoes are safe at the Farmer’s Market.”

So far, there have been six reported cases in Hays County, said Emily Palmer of the State Department of Health Services. Nick Icossipentarhos, director of the Hays County Personal Health Department, said there are also a couple of suspected cases that have not been confirmed.

He said he’s not aware that anyone who has contracted salmonella locally has sought hospital treatment.

Palmer said a total of 56 cases have been reported in Texas since the outbreak began in mid-April. So far there has been only one reported death, that of a Houston man; though authorities say the salmonella was just a contributing factor because the man was a cancer patient.

Palmer said the specific strain, saint paul salmonella, isn’t necessarily more serious than other strains but is a bit more rare. Like other strains she said people at more risk of infection include “the young, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems or serious chronic diseases.”

The advisories cover only raw tomatoes; the US Food and Drug Administration suggests cooking tomatoes at 145 degrees for at least 15 seconds.

Salmonella symptoms include headaches, stomach pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. The illness can last from four days to a week.

On Tuesday, the FDA widened its advisory nationwide. So far, 167 cases have been reported across the country.

Palmer said consumers the federal agency has also listed many states, including Texas, and foreign countries whose tomatoes are believed safe. However, discerning just where produce comes from can be tricky, she said.

“Usually in stores there will be something marked or people can ask the store where they got those specific tomatoes,” she said. “It’s probably a little more problematic in restaurants. You can certainly ask if the tomatoes were grown in Texas or other states cleared by the FDA. The other way is to pretty much stick to the grape and cherry tomatoes and those with the vines still attached.”

Julie Braun’s customers at the Farmer’s Market didn’t have any hesitation to reach out for the juicy red tomatoes. “They’re our biggest seller anyway,” she said, adding it’s “hard to tell” if the salmonella scare has had any effect.

     

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