Tainted Tomato Cases Jump to 383 People in 30 States, D.C.

A cluster of nine cases still holds promise for helping to break the deadlock. But a second patient has retracted the original information he or she gave the FDA on where contaminated tomatoes were eaten, basically rendering that particular "trace-back" effort worthless, officials acknowledged.

Acheson would not confirm that this cluster of nine cases was the same as a cluster being investigated in Chicago that originated at two Adobo Grill restaurants.

Meanwhile, restaurants and supermarkets across the country are starting to sell and serve tomatoes again. TheChicago Sun-Timesreported that McDonald's restaurants are bringing back some tomatoes, as is Wendy's and Burger King. Yum Brands, which owns Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut, is also bringing back tomatoes from "safe" areas, the newspaper said.

"I can't speak to why one chain is going back and one isn't," Acheson said. "From a food-safety perspective, I'd like retailers to put tomatoes on the menu but make sure they come from a safe place. They do need to know their suppliers."

Acheson also said that the FDA has asked for authority to take action to prevent future outbreaks. "We have put the word out that we need authority to require preventative control," he said. "Exactly what that would look like would depend exactly on what the legislation looked like. But at a high level, we feel we need preventative control for high-risk foods, and tomatoes and other types of fresh produce would be part of that."

Currently, the U.S. agriculture industry relies on a set of voluntary "good practices" to ensure food safety.

"We have asked for authorities, and we don't yet have them. What we're looking for here is mandatory. There would be no voluntary about it," Acheson said.

In other developments, theSeattle Post-Intelligencerreported on its Web site Wednesday that more than 8,000 people may have actually been sickened in this salmonella outbreak. The explanation: "Based on earlier extensive studies and extrapolations, the CDC has estimated that for every one case of salmonellosis reported, there are 38 additional cases that are not reported," according to the newspaper site.

Williams appeared to confirm the theory Thursday.

"For every case we see, there are 30 cases we don't see," Williams said. "There are probably thousands of cases."

Salmonella is a bacteria that can cause bloody diarrhea in humans. Some 40,000 cases of salmonellosis are reported in the United States each year, although the CDC estimates that because milder cases are not diagnosed or reported, the actual number of infections may be 30 or more times greater. Approximately 600 people die each year after being infected.

More information

Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more on the salmonella outbreak.

SOURCES: June 19, 2008, teleconference with David Acheson, M.D., associate commissioner for food protection, U.S. Food and Drug Administration; Ian Williams, chief, OutbreakNet Team, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;Chicago Sun-Times