Salmonella Outbreak: The Tale of the Tainted Tomatoes

The number of cases related to salmonella-tainted tomatoes has risen to 228.

Currently, six states had been added to the list- Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New York, Tennessee and Vermont- bringing the total count to 23 affected states.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has yet to locate the source of the outbreak. Officials are still unsure if all of the tainted tomatoes are off the market.

Numerous restaurants across Canada have removed the availability of tomatoes from their menues as a precaution. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency had not issued any recalls, but several Canadian restaurant chains - including Wendy's, McDonald's, Tim Hortons, Taco Bell, KFC, and Burger King - had temporarily removed tomatoes as a precaution.

Although no confirmed deaths have been reported, an elderly man, who suffered from terminal cancer, had died due to complications from the rare form of salmonella.

Tomatoes grown in Arkansas, California, Georgia, Hawaii, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Puerto Rico have been believed to be safe to eat, and are not part of the Food and Drug Administration's salmonella alert.

Although the source of the outbreak is still unknown, parts of Mexico and Florida still remain on the list of possible sources, since most of the tomato crops have been provided the most during the time of the outbreak.