McDonald’s fast food chain announced today it’s temporarily taking the sliced tomatoes off its sandwiches. The announcement comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended people avoid eating certain types of tomatoes. The agency says some kinds of tomatoes are thought to be the cause of the current outbreak of Salmonella bacteria across the country. Melaney Arnold is a public health official in Illinois.
ARNOLD: The Illinois Department of Public Health is not yet ready to say the illness of the Salmonella is definitely associated with tomatoes. However we are urging people to follow the FDA recommendation not to eat round or Roma tomatoes.
Arnold says avoiding tomatoes should be easier if they are not already on your sandwich. She says so far there are 27 reported cases of Salmonella poisoning in Illinois.