FDA Launches Tomato Safety Initiative

June 2007

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has launched the Tomato Safety Initiative, a multi-year program to reduce the spread of food poisoning and tomato-related illness. The plan, much like the Leafy Greens Initiative of 2006, will include working with the vegetable industry to raise the safest possible products for the market.

Fresh and fresh-cut tomatoes have been linked to 12 major outbreaks of food poisoning in the United States in the past decade. During that time, as many as 1,840 related cases of foodborne illness were recorded.

The Tomato Safety Initiative targets specific growers in Virginia and Florida that have been identified as major contributors to these outbreaks. By working with state agriculture and health departments, the vegetable industry, local growers, and food safety researchers, the FDA hopes to curb cases of food poisoning from tomatoes.