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Emilia-Romagna has ordered public and private foodservice providers in schools, hospitals and care facilities to stop serving uncooked cherry tomatoes until further notice. The measure follows a wider investigation into Salmonella cases linked by epidemiological, microbiological or genomic evidence to raw cherry and datterini tomatoes; authorities say supply-chain tracing remains difficult.
Authorities in Emilia-Romagna have ordered public and private foodservice providers in schools, social care facilities, hospitals and nursing homes to stop using uncooked cherry tomatoes, citing Salmonella infections under investigation. The order applies until further notice and is intended as a precaution while officials examine outbreaks reported in Italy and other European countries.
The regional notice covers cherry tomatoes that have not undergone cooking and applies across the named institutional settings. Authorities said the action was taken under the precautionary principle to protect public health while investigations continue. People or providers who breach the order could face prosecution, according to the notice.
Regional surveillance recorded 112 Salmonella Strathcona cases and five infections from monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium in Emilia-Romagna between 2024 and 2026. Authorities said cases across several European countries and Italian regions during that period were linked, through epidemiological, microbiological or genomic evidence, to eating raw cherry and datterini tomatoes.
A national task force convened on Sept. 30, 2026, found that recent outbreaks in Puglia, Lombardy, Lazio and Friuli-Venezia Giulia were linked to fresh tomatoes contaminated with monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium sequence type 34 or Salmonella Strathcona sequence type 2559, according to the report. Since July, more than 160 infections in 10 European countries have been recorded. The source material does not specify a final case count or whether all of those infections have been confirmed as part of one outbreak.
The restriction directly affects meal services for people who may be at greater risk of serious illness, including children, hospital patients and residents of care homes. It also applies to both public and private foodservice providers in the listed settings, rather than to all tomato sales or household use. The order is a targeted measure on serving uncooked cherry tomatoes, not a reported nationwide ban on tomatoes.
The case figures point to a cross-border public-health concern, but they do not by themselves establish that every infection came from the same product or source. Authorities have linked cases through multiple kinds of evidence, and the decision to suspend use in specified facilities reflects a precaution while investigations proceed. For food providers, the order means menus and ingredient handling must change until officials lift or revise the restriction.
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Outbreak Links Across Europe
The Emilia-Romagna notice cited assessments by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the European Food Safety Authority in 2024 and 2025, along with notifications on the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed. The report says outbreaks have involved different Salmonella types and sequence types, including Strathcona and monophasic Typhimurium, across multiple years and regions.
Emilia-Romagna is not the first Italian region described as restricting raw tomato service. Authorities in Puglia previously suspended raw fresh tomatoes at food-preparation centers and distribution points for institutional catering, including nurseries, schools, care facilities and hospitals. That action followed a rise in Strathcona infections and detection of Salmonella in a tomato batch from Caltanissetta, according to the report.
Investigators have also reported findings connected to the supply chain. In late 2025, testing in Austria detected the outbreak strain in organic cherry tomatoes from Italy. The strain had also previously been found in irrigation water at a tomato producer in Sicily. Those findings are part of the investigation described in the source; they do not establish that any particular currently sold product is contaminated.
Tracing Tomatoes and Case Links
Authorities have not identified in the supplied report which operators or distribution routes are involved. They said the complexity of fresh tomato supply chains makes it difficult to establish those details. The source also does not identify a single confirmed producer responsible for all cases, specify whether the same contamination source accounts for outbreaks across every region, or give a final total of linked infections.
The measure concerns uncooked cherry tomatoes in specified institutions. The report does not say that all cherry tomatoes, datterini tomatoes, cooked tomatoes or products sold to consumers are subject to a recall or general prohibition. It also does not provide details about any specific contaminated batch currently on the market. Those distinctions matter: the regional order is a precautionary foodservice restriction, and readers should not treat it as proof that every tomato product is unsafe.
Investigation and Order Review
The regional suspension remains in effect until further notice. The source gives no date for a review, end point or further announcement. Foodservice providers covered by the order must follow it while it remains active; authorities may revise the measure as investigations produce more information.
Investigators are still seeking to clarify the supply-chain links and distribution of implicated products. Further public-health updates could report additional cases, traceability findings or changes to regional restrictions. Until officials provide those details, the precise source of contamination and the full extent of the outbreak remain unresolved.
Key Questions
Where has uncooked cherry tomato service been suspended?
Emilia-Romagna ordered public and private foodservice providers in schools, social care facilities, hospitals and nursing homes to stop using uncooked cherry tomatoes until further notice.
Does the order ban all tomatoes in Italy?
No. The reported Emilia-Romagna measure applies to uncooked cherry tomatoes in specified institutional foodservice settings. The source does not report a nationwide ban or a general restriction on household purchases.
How many Salmonella cases were recorded in Emilia-Romagna?
Regional surveillance identified 112 Salmonella Strathcona cases and five monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium infections between 2024 and 2026. The source does not state that every case was linked to one confirmed batch or producer.
What is still unknown about the outbreak?
Authorities have not identified the operators and product distribution details involved, and say fresh tomato supply chains are difficult to trace. The source also does not provide a final count of cases linked to the outbreaks or a single confirmed source for all infections.
Source: foodsafetynews.com
