Health agencies warn against eating raw cherry tomatoes from Sicily

The Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) issued a warning on Friday that raw cocktail tomatoes harvested in Sicily's Ragusa and Caltanissetta provinces may be contaminated with the rare Salmonella Strathcona serotype. Since July 2026, ten European nations have recorded over 160 confirmed infections, and Austria alone has logged 29 cases, 21 of which are microbiologically verified. Earlier investigations in 2025 detected the same strain in organic cherry tomatoes and in the irrigation water of a Sicilian tomato farm.

Health officials stress that washing the tomatoes does not fully remove the bacteria, and that cooking them thoroughly is the only reliable safeguard. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) notes that the risk of additional outbreaks persists until the source of contamination is identified and effective control measures are applied.