Expect fewer slices of red, ripe tomatoes next to the grill this holiday weekend.
With a salmonella scare causing many customers to shun what's normally a summertime favorite, tomato farmers nationwide have had to plow under their fields and leave their crop to rot in packinghouses.
As losses across the supply chain top $100 million, industry leaders are calling for a congressional investigation into the government's handling of the outbreak, the source of which hasn't been determined.
McDonald's Corp., Wendy's International Inc. and Yum Brands Inc. resumed offering some tomatoes on their menus in the last few weeks.
But now, during one of the biggest barbecue weekends of the year, tomato farmers say their summer season has already withered despite the government's recent announcement that some other type of fresh produce might have caused the salmonella outbreak, which has sickened 922 people.
"Now the government has a doubt as to whether it was tomatoes after they've already blackened our eye?" said Paul DiMare, president of The DiMare Companies in Johns Island, S.C. "June and July are the best time of the year for tomatoes, but our movement has completely stopped in the United States."