Peeled Tomatoe Ms. Sheehan said the company, which markets tomatoes for 24 B.C.producers, sells half of its product to the U.S. Since thesalmonella outbreak, calls about their tomatoes have been"consistent." "This is not good for the industry, but we're in a good position,"she said. "Hopefully, this will be resolved quickly." John Newell, co-owner of Windset Farms in Delta, B.C., says hisphone was ringing "a little more briskly" yesterday with calls fromwestern U.S. food companies begging for his greenhouse tomatoes.While grocery shoppers shouldn't see a price rise, southern U.S.wholesalers that did not have a contract with Windset Farms butordered due to the U.S. shortage paid anywhere from 10 to 30 percent more per order than the average customer this week. "We have had some prices definitely move up this week on most ofthe major commodities," he said. "A $10 carton of tomatoes isselling for anywhere from $11 to $14." In Canada, restaurants are pulling tomatoes from their menus andsome consumers are making sure they buy homegrown products. "People are just making sure what they're buying is from here,"said Sal Badali, the owner of Badali Food Market in Toronto. "Ifthey can see that, then they're okay buying the tomato." Jackie Crichton, director of food safety and environmental affairsfor the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors, said the CanadianFood Inspection Agency is working closely with the FDA and hasfound no reason to advise Canadian grocers to pull tomatoes fromtheir shelves. The FDA said it still does not know where the contaminated tomatoesoriginated. The infections have struck most often in New Mexico andTexas and its search is homing in on those states. Since mid-April, 167 people infected with salmonella with the same"genetic fingerprint" have been identified, according to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S. At least 23people have been hospitalized. The salmonella strain associated with the outbreak was said to be acontributing factor in the death of a 67-year-old cancer patient inTexas, who was sickened after eating a tomato at a Mexicanrestaurant, health officials said. In 2006, it took more than six weeks to locate the source of an E.coli outbreak in spinach. The source of the outbreak across NorthAmerica was eventually linked to a processing plant in San JuanBautista, Calif. The FDA has been searching for the source of thetomato outbreak now since mid-April.
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