7-Eleven Inc. announced that it will immediately suspend the use of tomatoes in light of the FDA reports warning consumers nationwide that a salmonellosis outbreak has been linked to consumption of certain raw, red plum, red Roma and red round tomatoes and products containing these tomatoes.
"The company is approaching [image-nocss] this issue in a responsive manner and is discontinuing the use of all of these types of tomato products from its food offerings, with the exception of cherry and grape tomatoes included in 7-Eleven fresh side salads, which health officials say may continue to be offered," 7-Eleven said.
The Dallas-based retailer also is providing a sign for stores to alert customers.
Altoona, Pa.-based Sheetz Inc., which experienced its own salmonella problem in 2004, has removed all raw tomatoes from its stores, reported WRTA-TV. The company said it will not serve any tomatoes on its Made-To-Order (MTO) items until the danger has passed.
And Wawa Inc. also will not sell food products containing certain varieties of tomatoes until an outbreak of salmonella affecting the country is contained, reported The Press of Atlantic City.
According to the retailer, none of the tomatoes supplied to the Wawa, Pa.-based chain comes from possibly contaminated sources. But in order to avoid a situation like Taco Bell's E. coli scare in 2006, Wawa is acting as quickly as possible to comply with FDA recommendations.
Red signs reading, "As a precaution, items with sliced tomatoes are being recalled and will be unavailable until further notice," were placed throughout Wawa stores, and were especially prevalent at the sandwich counters and salad sections, said the report.
In response to a Kraft/CSP Daily News poll earlier this week that asked, "Have you thrown out any tomatoes in response to the recent salmonella outbreak?", nearly 71% (94 out of a total of 133 responses) said no, while just over 29% (30 respondents) said yes.
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