Features Production Vegetables
U.S. tomato research examines salmonella

October 10, 2012 – Tomatoes are particularly susceptible to salmonella the first week after seedlings are transplanted, with a much greater chance that the flesh of the fruit will become contaminated from the inside out if exposed at that time, according to research expected to be published later this year.

A three-year study by researchers from the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Nutrition showed salmonella easily invades tomato seedlings through open wounds on their roots, particularly if it is present in ground water and sediment, said Rebecca Bell, researcher for CFSAN’s division of microbiology. READ MORE