Florida pols want more help from FDA on safe tomatoes

June 13th, 2008 | Category: Florida Politics Blog

More than a dozen members of Congress from Florida have sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach asking that his agency do a better job of telling consumers that Florida tomatoes are OK.

Although tomatoes from 19 Florida counties have been cleared in the recent salmonella scare, boxes of them are rotting on loading docks considering consumers

don’t know they’re safe to eat, they write. They ask for a detailed plan, including timeframes, for how he plans to proceed.

The letter notes that Florida is the nation’s largest producer of tomatoes, and during the six- to seven-month season the industry employs 30,000 citizens. The crop is worth $500-million to $700-million.

Original post by Wes Allison

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