Salmonella outbreak sickens hundreds in Europe. Sicilian tomatoes are the chief suspect

Hundreds of people across Europe have fallen ill with food poisoning over the past two years – and tainted tomatoes are the prime suspect, health officials warned.

As of late September, there have been 510 confirmed cases of a specific strain of Salmonella bacteria in 18 European countries since 2023, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Salmonella is one of the most common types of food poisoning, causing stomach pain, diarrhoea, and fever.

The ECDC believes cherry tomatoes from the Mediterranean island of Sicily are the “primary food vehicle” driving the outbreak, which is linked to a strain of the bacteria known as Salmonella Strathcona.

Investigators traced the strain to a tomato farmer in Sicily. They found the bacteria in a sample of irrigation water there, which “confirmed the role of the environment in tomato contamination,” the agency said.

Over the years-long outbreak, Italy has reported the most cases (123), followed by Germany (113), Austria (76), the United Kingdom (73), and France (43).

Thirteen other European countries – Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden – have reported fewer than 15 cases each.

The outbreak has also crossed the Atlantic, with the United States recording 24 cases and Canada 10.

It’s not the first time Sicily’s tomatoes have been identified as a culprit of food poisoning with this strain of Salmonella. They were linked to an outbreak in Denmark in 2011, the ECDC said.

The agency called for more investigation to confirm that the Sicilian tomatoes are indeed the “vehicle of infection” in the outbreak, and said more should be done to promote stricter bacterial control during the tomato harvesting season.