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Emilia-Romagna has ordered public and private food-service providers at schools, hospitals and care facilities to stop serving uncooked cherry tomatoes while Salmonella investigations continue. Regional surveillance recorded 112 Salmonella Strathcona infections and five monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium infections from 2024 through 2026; authorities say the wider outbreak has affected 10 European countries since July 2026.
Authorities in Emilia-Romagna have ordered public and private food-service providers at schools, hospitals and care facilities to stop serving uncooked cherry tomatoes, citing Salmonella infections linked by investigations to raw tomatoes. The precautionary measure applies until further notice while officials examine the outbreak and the products’ supply chains.
The order covers cherry tomatoes that have not undergone cooking and applies to food-service providers serving schools, social care facilities, hospitals and nursing homes. The regional notice says the step was taken under the precautionary principle to protect public health while investigations continue. Providers who breach the order could face prosecution.
Regional surveillance recorded 112 Salmonella Strathcona cases and five infections caused by monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium in Emilia-Romagna between 2024 and 2026. The notice says cases in several European countries and Italian regions during those years have been connected, through epidemiological, microbiological or genomic evidence, to eating raw cherry and datterini tomatoes.
Since July 2026, more than 160 infections have been recorded across 10 European countries, according to the supplied report. Austria has reported 21 confirmed and eight probable Salmonella Strathcona cases across seven federal states. Germany’s Robert Koch Institute recently reported 39 patients associated with the outbreak there since June. Cases have also been reported in Denmark, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.
Raw Tomato Rules at Care Sites
The restriction affects meals served in settings where people may depend on institutions for daily food, including children, hospital patients and care-home residents. Suspending uncooked cherry tomatoes is a targeted measure intended to reduce potential exposure while authorities work to identify the source and distribution of implicated products.
The order is not a general ban on tomatoes, nor does the supplied notice say that every fresh tomato is contaminated. Its scope is specific: uncooked cherry tomatoes in designated institutional food-service settings. Readers should distinguish that local precaution from a finding that all tomatoes or all tomato products pose a risk.
For food providers, the immediate consequence is a change to menus and preparation practices until the order is lifted or revised. For consumers outside the covered settings, the report does not announce a wider restriction. The investigation’s outcome could affect whether authorities extend, narrow or end the measure.
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Outbreak Measures Across Italy
Emilia-Romagna is not the only Italian region to restrict raw tomatoes in institutional catering. Authorities in Puglia previously suspended serving raw fresh tomatoes at food-preparation centers and distribution points serving nurseries, schools, social and healthcare facilities, residential care homes and hospitals. That action followed a rise in Salmonella Strathcona infections and the detection of Salmonella in a batch of tomatoes from Caltanissetta.
A national task force met on September 30, 2026. Experts linked recent outbreaks in Puglia, Lombardy, Lazio and Friuli-Venezia Giulia to fresh tomatoes contaminated with monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium sequence type 34 or Salmonella Strathcona sequence type 2559, according to the report.
Earlier evidence cited in the regional notice includes European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and European Food Safety Authority outbreak assessments from 2024 and 2025, along with notices on the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed. Testing in Austria detected an outbreak strain in organic cherry tomatoes from Italy in late 2025; the strain had also been found in irrigation water at a tomato producer in Sicily. These findings are part of the investigation record, but do not by themselves identify the source of every case.
Source and Product Tracing
Authorities have not identified in the supplied report a single confirmed producer or distribution route responsible for all infections. The regional notice points to the complexity of fresh tomato supply chains as a barrier to identifying the operators involved and determining where products were distributed.
The report describes links established through different kinds of evidence, including epidemiological, microbiological and genomic findings. It does not provide a complete breakdown of cases by country, a final case count for the outbreak, or confirmation that every reported infection is connected to one contaminated batch. It also does not specify the date when the Emilia-Romagna order will be reviewed or how authorities will decide that raw tomatoes can be served again.
Investigations and Order Reviews
The restriction remains in force until further notice. Food-service providers covered by the order must follow it while public health and food-safety authorities continue their investigations. The supplied report does not set a timetable for lifting the suspension.
Investigators are expected to continue tracing suppliers and distribution routes and comparing information from Italian regions and other affected countries. Further notices could clarify which products or operators are implicated, or provide updated infection figures. Until authorities issue those details, the precise source and full extent of the outbreak remain unresolved.
Key Questions
What has Emilia-Romagna prohibited?
The regional order suspends the use of uncooked cherry tomatoes by public and private food-service providers serving schools, social care facilities, hospitals and nursing homes. It is in force until further notice.
Does the order cover all tomatoes in Italy?
No. The reported Emilia-Romagna measure applies to uncooked cherry tomatoes at specified institutional food-service sites. The report does not describe a nationwide ban or a restriction on all tomato products.
How many cases were recorded in Emilia-Romagna?
Regional surveillance identified 112 Salmonella Strathcona cases and five monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium infections between 2024 and 2026. Those figures cover the stated regional surveillance period.
How many European countries have reported infections?
The report says more than 160 infections have been recorded in 10 European countries since July 2026. It lists Austria, Germany, Denmark, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden among the affected countries.
Has the source of the outbreak been identified?
Not definitively in the supplied report. Investigations have linked cases to raw cherry and datterini tomatoes using epidemiological, microbiological or genomic evidence, but authorities say complex supply chains make it difficult to identify operators and product distribution details.
Source: rss
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