Rotten tomato affair' should give bakers pause

With each passing week, it becomes increasingly difficult for grain-based foods to ignore the painful debacle associated with the inability of federal authorities to pinpoint the fresh produce source of a Salmonella outbreak.

Since April, 1,220 people in 42 states and Canada have fallen sick in an outbreak that first was attributed to tomatoes and later implicated certain hot peppers. Cilantro still lurks in the background as a possible suspect. Following pleadings by the tomato industry, the Food and Drug Administration offered the public tepid assurances. "This is not saying anyone is absolved," an F.D.A. official said July 17, adding that consumers should know "tomatoes currently in stores and coming on the market are okay."

Since the illness developed, some tomato varieties have suffered sales declines in excess of 50%. The episode is costing the industry in Florida losses of as much as $100 million. Industry representatives have begun calling for government compensation. Clearly, the fresh produce industry faces traceability issues that are many degrees more complicated than is the case for grain-based foods. Still, the depth and duration of this "rotten tomato affair" should give bakers pause.

For longer than a year, baking and other processed foods groups have complained to Congress that the F.D.A. is not adequately funded. Any baking disaster resulting from F.D.A. weakness likely would be far different from the one afflicting tomatoes.

At the same time, tomato growers probably stand a better chance of successfully gaining compensation from F.D.A. missteps than baking or the processed food industry ever would. The bolstered funding for the F.D.A. winding through Congress is urgently needed. If the funding is secured, the industry then must watch carefully to protect its interests at an agency whose resources are severely stretched.