City restaurants, grocery stores adapt to outbreak
By ALEXANDRA BISSONNETTE AND MICHAEL MIDDLEHURST-SCHWARTZ Special to the Daily Press
DOWNTOWN A nation-wide salmonella outbreak has left Santa Monica restaurants, grocers, and consumers scrambling to ensure the safety of their tomatoes.
The Food and Drug Administration announced Saturday that certain raw tomatoes had been linked to 145 cases of Salmonella reported since mid-April.
“The best thing to do if you have those certain types of tomatoes, throw them away or take them back to the grocery store,” said Karen Blakeslee, an extension associate in the food science program at Kansas State.
The FDA recommended consumers not eat three kinds of tomatoes — raw red plum, raw red Roma, and raw red round tomatoes — unless they had been grown and harvested in one of the 15 states or territories where there had been no ties to the outbreak.
Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached have been cleared for consumption by the FDA.
Grocers throughout Santa Monica have been responding to the FDA’s warning.
Whole Foods on Montana Avenue is no longer carrying any of the tomatoes that the FDA linked to the outbreak. They were sent back to the distribution center late last week, said Erasmo Camacho, a Whole Foods representative.
Smaller grocers like the Natural Foods Co-Op on Broadway and Bob’s Market on Ocean Park Boulevard have taken similar steps to prevent additional outbreaks from occurring.
Vons on Wilshire Boulevard has removed all of the linked tomatoes as well.
“We pulled them from the shelves and are putting them in a compost pile,” said Andrew Garcia, produce manager.
The only customer who had asked about the salmonella outbreak had heard about it when a Jack-in-the-Box had refused to put tomatoes on her burger, Garcia said.
While many grocers have responded to the FDA’s announcement, Albertson’s has not yet taken action.
“We have not been notified by our corporate headquarters, so we still carry the tomatoes,” said an Albertson’s employee, who did not want to give his name. “I have not heard anything from corporate, so they are still good in my mind.”
William Menkes, who was visiting the Third Street Promenade Monday afternoon, heard about the salmonella outbreak on the radio, but that did not stop him from buying organic Roma tomatoes from a Ralphs in the San Fernando Valley this morning.
When asked if he would still eat them, he replied that he wasn’t sure.
“La Salsa doesn’t have their salsa right now,” Menkes said. “I guess that’s why.”
Heather LaPorte, a Santa Monica resident, heard about the outbreak when her parents were unable to get tomatoes on their burgers at a McDonald’s. The chain has stopped serving tomatoes on its sandwiches as a precaution until the source of the bacterial infection is known, according to a statement Monday from spokeswoman Danya Proud.
“It wasn’t a big deal,” LaPorte said,“but it was too much for them, so they left [the restaurant].”
Gary Wallack, owner of Ocean Park Pizza, said his restaurant only uses hothouse, vine-picked tomatoes which would be safe from the disease. Spending $13.50 a case for his tomatoes, Wallack said the freshness helped justify the cost.
“It’s been worth every penny,” Wallack said. “The important part is getting them vine-picked, because if you don’t, you don’t know what you’re getting.”
Sam Srebnik, owner of The Slice on Wilshire Boulevard, said he had not been informed of the outbreak as of Monday afternoon.
The company had no plans to make changes, Srebnik said, because the restaurant does not use any of the three types of tomatoes tied to Salmonella.
“We don’t plan on doing anything unless it comes to our attention that it’s an issue here,” Srebnik said.
Customers had not come to Srebnik or any of his employees with health concerns, according to Srebnik.
“Business has been as good as ever,” Srebnik said, “especially with the Lakers playing.”
Wallack placed signs at all three of his restaurants notifying customers that the tomatoes used in the food were safe from the disease.
Wallack said he was taking all of the normal precautions in making sure his produce is healthy.
“We’re washing all of our vegetables thoroughly like always,” Wallack said. “A lot of people aren’t washing well, so the chances are that becomes even more of a problem.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 10, 2008. Read the original PDF.