Minnesota tomatoes in high demand

tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes on display.
Getty Images

While some varieties of tomatoes have been taken off of restaurant menus and grocery store shelves, a Minnesota brand is in demand.

The FDA is advising people not to eat raw Roma, plum and red-round tomatoes after 150 people in 16 states were sickened in a salmonella outbreak.

Meanwhile, Minnesota's own Bushel Boy tomatoes have been deemed safe by the FDA, and Bushel Boy owner Jay Johnson says the company is busy.

"We've had a lot of interest and a lot of calls. We just kind of have a limited amount of tomatoes. We have to wait until they naturally ripen before we can harvest them. So just because there are more orders doesn't mean that we can fill 'em all," said Johnson.

Johnson said Bushel Boy grows its tomatoes in a greenhouse using water from the city of Owatonna. He said that likely protects them from a prime source of salmonella, fouled water. No one in Minnesota has gotten sick in the latest outbreak.

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