Tomato Casual » Florida Tomatoes Soon to be Safer from Salmonella

florida By Michelle Fabio

There’s great news for buyers of Florida tomatoes: the state’s tomato growers with the support of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the University of Florida are teaming up in a program to help prevent salmonella and other food-borne illnesses from affecting their crops.

Through training of farm managers and packing houses on the proper way to grow and handle tomatoes, the Florida Tomato Food Safety Program hopes to not only make the state’s tomatoes safer but also create a positive selling point for Florida tomatoes and other agriculture.

Right now the program is voluntary and in a strong sign of support, 150 growers recently completed the training process. As of next year, this type of training will be state law and further regulate Florida’s tomato industry.

Along with providing for more sanitary handling, other provisions in the law include the requirements that tomatoes are transported in new containers and are clearly marked.

Read more about this story at: Growers team up for safer tomatoes

2 Responses to “Florida Tomatoes Soon to be Safer from Salmonella”

shane Says:
December 27th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
WOW, what can I say a very cool niche blog about my favourite food Tomatoes!!! Too Funny !!
Can I recommend you do a post about toasted tomato and cheese sandwiches, heck I’d be happy to guest blog about how much I love these tasty little delightful snacks. Its all my moms fault actually she started feeding me tomatoes at a very young age, and now I just gobble the things and even pop the cherry tomatoes like candy.
You should have seen the night I tried making tomato martinis and shooters what a night that was!!
tomatocasual.com Says:
December 28th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Hey Shane - Glad you liked the blog. A post on toasted tomato and cheese sounds yummy. We welcome offer to guest blog and share your experience with these tasty treats. Tomatoes are like candy to us too.