Salmonella in cherry tomatoes: Puglia halts raw tomato in schools
The regional health department has told canteens serving children, patients and care-home residents to replace raw fresh tomatoes with cooked vegetables until further notice, Italian media report.
Salmonella in cherry tomatoes has led Italy's Puglia region to suspend raw fresh tomatoes in school, hospital and care-home canteens, according to an urgent note from the regional health department reported by Italian media on 3 October. The measure follows outbreaks recorded in four Italian regions in September, according to the same reports.
The note was sent to municipalities and to public and private catering operators, according to Il Fatto Alimentare. It covers nurseries, kindergartens and primary schools, hospital canteens, nursing homes and care facilities, the outlet reported. Raw tomatoes may be replaced with cooked vegetables, according to the same report.
The decision follows a meeting of a national task force on 30 September, l'Immediato reported. That meeting examined salmonellosis outbreaks in Puglia, Lombardy, Lazio and Friuli-Venezia Giulia, according to the newspaper. Regional prevention departments associated the cases with the consumption of fresh tomatoes, in particular raw cherry tomatoes, it added.
The suspension stays in force until the Puglia region formally revokes it, according to Italian media reports.
What the regional note says about the Sicilian batch
The note refers to an increase in cases of Salmonella Strathcona ST2559, according to Il Fatto Alimentare. Laboratory tests found salmonella in a batch of tomatoes from the province of Caltanissetta, in Sicily, the outlet reported. The reports consulted do not name a producer in connection with the regional note.
The suspension is described as temporary and precautionary and remains in force until the region formally revokes it, according to Telebari and l'Immediato. The municipality of Bari said no cases had been reported in the city's schools and that the meal service was continuing as normal, Telebari reported.
Salmonella in cherry tomatoes, a strain tracked since 2023
A joint rapid outbreak assessment published by ECDC and EFSA on 12 November 2024 counted 232 confirmed cases in 16 EU and EEA countries since January 2023, plus 29 in the United Kingdom. That document stated that small tomatoes from Sicily were the vehicle of infection in an Austrian outbreak in 2023 and an Italian outbreak in 2024.
A later update raised the total to 437 confirmed cases in 17 countries between January 2023 and September 2025, according to figures cited by Il Fatto Alimentare. Italy accounted for 123 of them, Germany for 113 and Austria for 76, according to those figures. The 2024 assessment recommended that investigations into salmonella in cherry tomatoes identify the point of entry of the bacterium, including irrigation water.
The conclusions of the 30 September task force have not been made public, according to Il Fatto Alimentare. On a separate matter of water and tomato supply, AMUSE. has reported on the water shortage facing tomato growers in Souss-Massa. No date has been reported for a review of the Puglia suspension linked to salmonella in cherry tomatoes.
