The attack of the killer tomatoes isn’t rotten news for New York farmers.
The latest food scare that squashed $40 million from the industry in Florida and destroyed Mexican imports is yielding a bumper crop for early-season growers in the state – one of 19 put on a Food and Drug Administration safe list.
“On an average day, I sell 60 pounds,” said upstate farmer Calvin Ryan, 28, who set up shop at a Battery Park farmers market.
“I’ve sold 90 pounds already today and it’s only lunchtime.”
Meanwhile, Texas health officials yesterday confirmed salmonella-tainted tomatoes claimed a first fatality.
Raul Rivera, 67, was poisoned last week as he ate tomato-based pico de gallo at a Mexican restaurant in Houston.
Rivera ate the meal – a family celebration after doctors told him treatment was beating his cancer – the day after Texas issued a warning that tomatoes could be carrying the deadly bacteria.
The outbreak has infected at least 167 people in 16 states. No known infections have occurred in New York.
FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach said the outbreak “is narrowing down rapidly. We hope that in the next few days we’ll be in a position to identify the exact source.”
Von Eschenbach said the agency is checking whether the contaminated tomatoes came from overseas.
Plum, Roma and red round tomatoes – the types suspected of carrying the contamination – were being purged from New York restaurant kitchens and supermarket shelves after the FDA sent out a nationwide warning that the outbreak, which began in Texas and New Mexico, had spread.
Mexican food chain Chipotle took tomato salsa off its menu yesterday.
“Try our mild corn salsa,” the company’s Web site advised.
But customers weren’t impressed.
“I love tomato salsa, but this? It’s very, very disappointing,” said Emily Hainze, 23, from Brooklyn who was eating tacos with corn salsa at a Broadway Chipotle.
“It’s just not the same,” said Michelle Toussaint, 32, from Manhattan. “Mexican food is all about salsa, and salsa is all about tomatoes. I don’t want a salsa made of corn. It’s disgusting.”
At Midtown’s Oyster Bar, the mozzarella and tomato salad special lasted only a few hours.
“We read about it and we decided to pull the tomatoes,” said manager Roxanne Gallas.
Burger King and McDonald’s have already dropped tomatoes from their burgers and salads.
But a handful of grocers, including D’Agostino and Fairway, were still taking the risk
“It’s all hype,” said Peter Romano, produce manager at Fairway on the Upper West Side.
Additional reporting by Braden Keil and Cynthia R. Fagen