Three types of tomatoes have been pulled off the restaurant menus and grocery shelves as the FDA struggles to determine the source of a 16-state salmonella outbreak which has sickened nearly 150 people nationwide. So far, no deaths have been reported.

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. 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.

The government regulator said it is working around the clock to find the culprit. Meanwhile, the tomato industry in Florida was effectively brought to its knees by the outbreak. Millions of dollars worth of tomato crops have been banned from selling. Only the tiny portion of tomato sales are going ahead, those for cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, which have been ruled safe.

The disease produced by the Salmonella bacteria is called salmonellosis and for most of the infected people is known to cause diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. The illness generally lasts four to seven days and people normally choose to tough it out without a treatment.

The outbreak comes just months after CDC reported in April that U.S.' struggle to contain foodborne illness showed little progress in 2007, although they had a constant incidence between 2004 and 2006. According to the report, there were 17,883 confirmed cases of foodborne infections in 2007. Salmonella was by far the leader of all foodborne infections with an incidence rate of 14.92 per 100,000 people.