It's too bad I already consumed the one I purchased.... not sick so far *crosses everything*

/goes out and buys lottery ticket

What?

Yeah, tell me more about this.

Wait: here's a link. (NYT.)

I totally live off tomatoes though not the ones that seem to be the culprits.

This Washington Post article seems to say to only eat tomatoes from certain areas but then lists those same areas as sources of problem tomatoes. (California is on both lists.) I do not know what to make of this. Do I worry while eating them or not?

Where did you hear about the organic tomatoes? Any specifics?

Also, does anyone know what causes these outbreaks? How do they start?

Yeah, and we pretty much only eat Roma tomatoes. In fact, I had some in my salad today (well... it was from a batch I bought a few days ago and haven't been getting sick from so hopefully...)

Interestingly enough, a few people got sick after my friend's wedding on Saturday. They had a lot of tomato-y stuff. I wonder...

Ecoli is usually associated with meat but, of course, cattle bone and blood meal is used as fertilizer, even for organic produce.

Veganic farming utilizes plant-based fertilizer that is more efficient and as quick and easy to grow as bountiful kudzu. Cool stuff, and farmers are starting to catch on.

what Is weird is I only like perfect tomatoes and usually will order stuff without. But this week with all the "no tomatoes" signs in restuarants I'm really craving them.

Where did you hear about the organic tomatoes? Any specifics?

My co-op pulled them since they were informed (I don't know by who) that no one knows if they're among the contaminated. I called to see if they had any since NO ONE else does. They all yanked the bad ones, and the safe ones sold out.
They do still have heirlooms, though.

NPR had a thing about it today... I guess they're typically washed with a dip in bleach water and then another dip in clean water to rinse. And, if the temperatures are off, the pores of the skin open up and all the bacteria goes IN instead of washing off.

This is why I only eat Oreos, Doritos, and Tic Tacs.

And Jello pudding cups.

E coli? Nah, salmonella, shane.

Yeah, all the restaurants around town have been pulling tomato-based stuff from their menus. It's been hell on Tex-Mex, which comprises approximately 75% of the decent eateries in this town. Yesterday I ordered a side of pico de gallo, and they had substituted black beans and corn for tomatoes. (It was actually pretty darn good.)

I love me tomatoes, the ones still on the vine [which are OK] that really really smell like the earth and ... wonderful tomatoes. I eat 'em daily.

I'm still eating them. Who knows where they come from, the Korean vege place has them at a great price.

Was it spinach the last ecoli/salmonella thing¿
Bloody hell.

I'll let you know if my tummy hurts or if I end up on ICU.

I'm all in favour of those sugary jello cups though too. No tomatoe flavouring, thank be Jeebus./

Good thing I cook at home mostly.

Can nothing stop this tomato onslaught??

E coli? Nah, salmonella, shane.
posted by gaspode 10 June | 16:13

Ehh, whichever. I can't keep up with all the nasty stuff these days. The point is, if it's in the animal meat, it's passed on to the veggies via the fertilizer...

I ate my farmer's market tomatoes at lunch. When my own start ripening (soon!!), I'll eat them, too.

Yay for BC Hot House tomatoes! Their tomatoes on the vine are really good. Tho' I can't wait to start eating our own.

*eats tomato, lives to tell*

Meh.

I dunno. I don't take these warnings very seriously, honestly. Maybe I should.

I've done enough hand-wringing about what I should eat to get me to be 99% veggie. If eating vegetables does me in, that's what does me in. I'm not about to start hand-wringing over what vegetables I should and shouldn't eat this particular month.

Well, it's industrial food - it's all got pretty nasty stuff in, on, and happening around it. So grow your own, or buy local and in season and use canned the rest of the year. And wash produce.

Ecoli is usually associated with meat

Well, that used to be true, but things have changed in the last 20 years with the industrialization of produce and increase in large scale farming. E. Coli is spread through contamination with poop -- animal or human. So its ultimate source is always animal, but there are a lot of ways for it to pass to plants during their production. It can show up on veggies because of insufficiently degraded manure, contaminated groundwater or storm runoff, using contaminated water for watering crops, and d some very common and very unsanitary practices by farm laborers and food handlers in packaging plants. So vegan practices aren't enough to protect against e. Coli transmission. I honestly think the best thing you can do is just avoid industrial food products to the best of your ability, and when you can't, wash every vegetable before cooking and eating.

The FDA has put California on the list of suppliers NOT linked to the outbreak.

Hey, it's perfectly safe. It's from California. How long have I been waiting to hear those words?

I dunno. I don't take these warnings very seriously, honestly. Maybe I should.

I do only because my mom's a nurse and tells me horror stories about things she's seen.

That and, given how much metal is in me, I'm apparently supposed to watch out for infections. I can't even go to the dentist without taking antibiotics for a couple days beforehand (no wonder when I do get an infection it takes two different kinds of pills to stop it). I honestly don't know or understand the science behind it, but I figure caution won't hurt.

My local Fred Meyer has on-the-vine tomatoes on sale for 99 cents / pound, probably from BC Hot House (that's what they usually carry).