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November 22, 2008 10:13:36 CST

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Label-Free Tainted Tomatoes Tough to Trace

Posted Jun 16, 08 2:29 CDT in Business,  Science & Health 

(Newser) – Two months after salmonella-tainted tomatoes entered the food supply, the FDA has still not tracked down the source. Blame the label-free tomato with no bar codes to help investigators, reports AP. The FDA has had to rely on the fickle memories of victims, who are having trouble recalling if they ate the plum, roma or round variety.

"It's hard enough for folks to remember what they ate, let alone where it was from," said one industry analyst. Harvest and sales records have provided some leads, and FDA detectives now suspect Florida and Mexico tomatoes as the main culprits. A new law will require better labeling to make food more easily traceable.

Source Associated Press

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The Food and Drug Administration has released a list of farming locations, including Canada, California, and Hawaii, that it believes are safe from the salmonella outbreak.   (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A worker stands on crates of tomatoes in Mexico City, which flooded there after the U.S. rejected the fruits intended for export.   (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Bags of tomatoes being tested for salmonella bacteria are seen at FDA's southwest regional research lab, in Irvine, Calif., earlier this month, where microbiologists are working to trace the source of...   (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
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