Inspectors head to Fla, Mexico in salmonella probe

[June 21, 2008]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Food and Drug Administration inspectors are heading for farms in Florida and Mexico, as new clues emerge to the possible source of salmonella-tainted tomatoes that have now sickened 552 people.

The FDA wouldn't say where in Florida and Mexico the hunt is centering. But officials stressed the clues don't mean that a particular farm will turn out to be the culprit.

Investigators will pay special attention to big packing houses or distribution warehouses that enough tomatoes from those farms may have traveled through to account for what appears to be the nation's largest-ever salmonella outbreak from tomatoes.

[Associated Press; By LAURAN NEERGAARD]

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