<p>17 growers from Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina have filed a claim with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims seeking compensation of about $40 million, five years after the FDA mistakenly warned people in Texas and New Mexico that tomatoes were likely responsible for a multistate outbreak of Salmonella.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The claim includes the possibility of a class action suit, which would likely cost millions more.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Growers say they lost the value of their late-2008 tomato crop due to unjustified safety concerns and they want the government to compensate them for their losses.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">When the FDA warned people in Texas and New Mexico not to eat certain raw red tomatoes in June 2008, growers said the effect was national and had dire economic repercussions. They claim that national chains such as McDonalds and Wal-Mart cancelled their tomato orders as FDA tried to sort out the nation’s complex system of growing, harvesting, packing and shipping tomatoes, mostly leaving consumers confused and defensive, according to Food Safety News.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Growers in Florida and Georgia say they lost $100 to $125 million. In their filing, they claim they were deprived of their property and suggest a class action for all red plum, red Roma, and red round tomato growers from Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Raw Mexico-grown peppers were later found to be responsible for the outbreak.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/08/tomato-growers-want-to-be-compensated-for-losses-in-2008-outbreak/#.Ufwlx5K1GuJ" target="_new">Tomato Lawsuit Report </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
