How Does Salmonella Get on Tomatoes?

Filed in archive Latina Health on June 18, 2008

© WTL photos



Since I posted Salmonella and Tomatoes I've gotten questions on how it is that tomatoes can be contaminated with salmonella. We usually hear of salmonella being a problem with raw eggs and poorly cooked meat.

Here's what I found. Animals infected with salmonella don't show symptoms. So when they eliminate waste, the salmonella that was in their intestines in now in the manure that unsuspecting farmers use to fertilize fields.

Usually the process of composting the manure kills most bugs. Usually... not always.

Of course, animal waste can get into fields in the form of run-off from contaminated water supply systems and infected animals that sneak in and relieve themselves.

Crops are washed after they're harvested to control this sort of thing, of course, but when they go to the packing plant, if one batch is contaminated, it can contaminate others. Especially when the tomatoes travel a long way and have plenty of time to grow more bacteria to share with the healthy tomatoes on board.

Here's a more detailed report published by Newsweek.