Following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s tomato warning, more restaurants and grocery stores nationwide are pulling implicated varieties from shelves and their menus.

On a statement posted on their Web site, the FDA revealed that the number of people infected with Salmonella has reached 145 since mid-April, 23 of them needing hospitalization. No deaths have been reported.

The number of U.S. states hit the hardest by Salmonella infections had reached 16 by Sunday, the FDA said. New Mexico and Texas are the two U.S. states hit the most, followed by Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Meanwhile, tomatoes grown in Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, North and South Carolina, Tennessee and Puerto Rico are safe.

The FDA urged people not to consume red plum, red Roma or round red tomatoes, as they are believed to be the source of infection. Where exactly this source is located is a thing the FDA is trying to figure out helped by experts from the U.S. Centers from Disease Control and Prevention, food industry group and other organizations.

The FDA also said people are free to consume cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine attached and tomatoes grown at home.

For fear more people would get infected by Salmonella Saintpaul, an uncommon type of Salmonella, restaurants like McDonald’s, Panera Bread, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Sweet Tomatoes, Outback Steakhouse, Taco Bell, Potbelly Sandwich Works, Subway have withdrawn tomatoes from their menus. Although cooked tomatoes don’t represent a threat for healthy people, the restaurants want to ensure their customers are not exposed to any risk coming from their food.

Also, grocery stores like Albertsons, Ralphs, Sysco, Wal-Mart, Vons, Winn-Dixie, Safeway, Giant Food, Harris Teeter and Wegmans have also pulled the varieties of tomatoes believed to have spread Salmonella. They still sell the varieties of tomatoes the FDA said were safe.

Withdrawing tomatoes from the shelves of menus will hurt sales of items that contain tomatoes, according to Donna Garren, vice president of health and safety at the National Restaurant Association, but it is the best decision that can be taken for the moment in order to prevent Salmonella infections from spreading.

Every year, approximately 40,000 cases of salmonellosis are reported in the U.S. Because many milder cases are not diagnosed or reported, the actual number of infections may be thirty or more times greater.

This year’s salmonella outbreak is believed to be the biggest consumer scare since E.-coli outbreak from spinach grown in San Benito County, which killed three people and sickened at least 200 in the fall of 2006.

Salmonellosis can cause fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain starting 12 to 72 hours after infection, the FDA warned. The disease can be extremely dangerous for young children, frail or elderly people and those whose immune system is weakened. People usually choose to let the disease heal by itself, but in some cases treatment with antibiotics is needed to prevent the infection spreading from the intestines to the bloodstream, a condition that could turn fatal.

There is no vaccine to prevent salmonellosis, but people could fight the disease by washing their hands before handling food and between handling different food items. Also, cutting boards, counters, knives and other utensils should be washed thoroughly after touching uncooked foods.