The Food and Drug Administration agency has said that tracking down the source of the tomatoes that are responsible for hundreds of cases of salmonella infection nation-wide is a very difficult problem, and that there is a good possibility for the agency to be unable to find it.

The FDA has recently declared that the salmonella tomatoes have most probably originated from the plantations in Florida or Mexico, based on the fact that at the time of the outbreak of the disease these were the states that already began selling the vegetables. The agency is talking with people who have been diagnosed with salmonella in order to find out were they have consumed the tomatoes that have led to their infection with the virus.

If the FDA will be able to get conclusive results from the discussions with the patients, it will most probably be able to trace the tainted vegetables down the distribution chain until they will find the company that has packed them. But here is where the problem appears. If the packer delivered crates which contained tomatoes from different farms, it will be impossible to pin-point the producer of the salmonella tomatoes.

On the other hand, the good news is that the FDA made a list of 24 states that produce tomatoes that are safe. The people that are living in these states can continue eating tomatoes without taking any chances, if they are sure that the vegetables they purchase come from their state.

There have been 385 salmonella victims in 30 states since the infection’s outbreak in April, but experts think that the real number of cases is larger. Most people can fight back a salmonella infection on their own, but children, old people and persons with week immune systems present the risk of getting seriously sick.