Arkansas Tomato Prices Rise on Ban on Tomato Shipments From Other States

By Lamar James, U of A Cooperative Extension

First posted on 06-16-2008

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Arkansas-grown tomatoes are selling five to eight dollars above this usual price for a 20-pound box this time of year because of an outbreak of Salmonella in 17 states, according to John Gavin, Bradley County extension chair for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.

Arkansas is among 24 states on the Food and Drug Administration’s list of approved tomato-shipping states. Stores nationwide have been pulling certain types of fresh tomatoes from their produce shelves because of an alert from the FDA. On Wednesday, the FDA was reporting 169 cases of Salmonella, with 23 serious enough to require hospitalization.

“Normally, at this time of year, the price for Arkansas tomatoes is around $12 to $15 a box,” said Dr. Craig Andersen, extension horticulturist, but prices have risen to $20 a box this year.

Although farmers are benefiting from better prices, he said, they’re a bit nervous and “everyone has their fingers crossed.”

Bradley County is Arkansas’ main tomato-producing county, with about 600 acres of tomatoes with an annual farm gate value of $6 million to $8 million.

He said the biggest concern he had heard was about the safety of eating homegrown tomatoes.

“There’s no problem with them,” he said.

Gardeners sometimes use manure as a soil amendment, which is a safe practice if fresh manure is turned into the soil 120 days before planting to compost and kill the bacteria. He said store-bought bags of manure are already composted.

“A tomato, as it is on the vine, is essentially sterile unless the surface of the skin is cut,” he said. “There’s no way for a pathogen to enter a tomato. Only after harvest, with the stem scar exposed, can a pathogen enter a plant.”

He said most food-borne problems occur in post harvest handling practices when tomatoes are in a packing shed. The USDA has safe handling guidelines for packers.

In the latest outbreak, he said, “Someone somewhere apparently didn’t follow good agricultural practices and didn’t follow the principles of safe handling.”

He said gardeners and packers should follow similar common sense practices in handling foods, starting with thoroughly washing your hands.

Dr. Rosemary Rodibaugh, an extension nutrition specialist, said the rare strain of bacteria in the outbreak is Salmonella Saintpaul. It can cause diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. Those most vulnerable to the disease are the elderly, infants and people with impaired immune systems.

She recommends that consumers always wash their fruit and vegetables for at least 20 seconds under running water and cut away any damaged or bruised areas.

The FDA recommends that consumers not eat raw red Roma, raw red plum, raw red round tomatoes, or products that contain these types of tomatoes, unless they’re from approved sources.

For more information about the Salmonella outbreak and approved states, go to: http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/tomatoes.html#retailers and http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/tomatoes.html#outbreak.