Tomatoes Removed From Restaurants, Salmonella Fears

All across America, people are discovering that they are not getting tomatoes on their favorite burger or salad. Just tonight, I had a taste for a 'Whooper' at Burger King so as I pulled up to their drive though window, ready to order a 'Whooper', all the way, when I noticed there was a sign that said they would not be putting fresh tomatoes on their hamburgers until the current outbreak of Salmonella poisoning had been solved. Right now would be an excellent time to have a large garden filled with ripening tomatoes, because only the home grown type are known to pose no threat to the public. After doing some research on the Internet tonight, I discovered that Burger King is not alone in their decision to remove tomatoes from their hamburgers. Just today, McDonald's made the same decision. While I understand completely why fast food restaurants are removing potentially dangerous tomatoes from their food choices, it does aggravate me because a hamburger or salad is just not the same without a fresh ripe tomato to give it that perfect flavor.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like in recent years there have been more problems with the U.S. food supply than there were say 10 or 20 years ago. From tainted meat to e.Coli infested Spinach, there seems to be no major food group that is exempt from either deadly bacteria or potential poisoning these days. Down deep in my gut, I believe many of our current problems with the U.S. food supply can be traced back to a lack of enforcement muscle given to the US Department of Agriculture by the Bush administration. Maybe it is just because President Bush has let me and millions of other Americans down, many times, with other poor choices on his part that I find it easy to believe that somehow the White House is preventing food inspectors from doing their job of keeping the American food supply safe. Hopefully, some hard nosed reporters are looking into this possibility and we will find out the truth at some future date.

As a youngster, I was not a fan of tomatoes – but as I grew older I learned to love them. While I was always a fan of the tomato product called ketchup, eating raw tomatoes never was that much fun for me until I was over the age of 40. Now, I can't enjoy a hamburger or salad without a generous slice of tomato on them. While I still ordered my 'Whooper' at Burger King tonight, it most certainly did not taste the same without a fresh tomato as part of it's ingredients. While I have not heard yet as to whether Taco Bell is removing tomatoes from it's menu, a hot and fresh taco is another meal that will not taste the same without some small sliced tomatoes blending nicely on top along side fresh American cheese. There are so many regular everyday foods that millions of Americans eat each day that will not be as good without tomatoes on them.

Another side effect of my getting older is that I now look for healthy foods to add to the junk food that is still, unfortunately, a big part of my daily diet. When it comes to healthy foods there are few that can hold a candle to the vitamins and nutrients in a simple tomato. From vitamin C to important minerals like potassium, a single tomato per day could help improve the overall health of anyone that decided to add just one tomato to their daily diet. Now, that magical food is being pulled from restaurants across the country because there is a small risk that some people might become deadly sick if the tomato they eat has been infected with Salmonella. Hopefully, the government will do it's job and find out where these infected tomatoes were grown, remove them from the market and let the rest of us go back to enjoying one of the worlds most perfect foods, the tomato.

Title: Tomatoes Removed From Restaurants, Salmonella Fears
Written: June 09 2008
Related Fast Food Content:
No Trans Fats In All US and Canadian McDonald's
Great McDonald's Location In Hillsboro Texas
Move Over IHOP - McDonald's All Day Breakfast
2005-2008 © Hutch Report