Salmonella

McDonald's to put sliced tomatoes back on menu

McDonald's Corp. says it will begin serving sliced tomatoes again after a multistate salmonella outbreak caused the world's largest restaurant chain to yank the vegetable from its sandwiches.

Spokeswoman Danya Proud said Saturday that the fast food chain's U.S. restaurants will reintroduce sliced tomatoes in the next seven to 10 days.

McDonald's was among several restaurant chains and grocery stores that stopped serving sliced tomatoes last Monday as a precaution.

At least 228 illnesses in 23 states were linked to salmonella-tainted tomatoes.

Federal authorities haven't pinpointed the source of the outbreak, but say parts of Florida and Mexico were supplying most of the nation's tomatoes when the outbreak began in April.

The FDA has warned consumers against eating certain raw tomatoes: red plum, red Roma or round. Grape and cherry tomatoes or tomatoes still attached to the vine aren't linked to the illnesses.

Also ruled safe are tomatoes from more than 30 states or countries, including part but not all of major producer Florida, where some counties have been cleared but not others. The FDA can rule out as suspects farms and distributors that weren't harvesting or selling when the outbreak began.

(Published by AP - june 16, 2008)