A salmonella scare in the United States has prompted some Calgary restaurants to pull tomatoes off their menus.

Though there have been no reported cases of Canadians getting the same salmonella strain that has made dozens of Americans sick, some restaurant chains are taking the precautionary step anyway.

At the Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown Calgary, manager Jeff Slen said the staff put up notices about the precautionary measure.

"There's no fresh tomatoes, no tomatoes for drinks, nothing. Nothing except pre-made sauces," said Slen.

For an Italian restaurant, going without tomatoes means doing without fresh tomatoes in meals, salads and garnishes. They are still using canned Canadian tomatoes for sauces.

They're not the only ones to take this step. Following an advisory from a U.S. food safety agency, several restaurant chains have removed tomatoes from their menus, including Burger King, McDonald's, Tim Hortons, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, A&W; and KFC.

Customers at the Douglasdale McDonald's, one of the first to pull tomatoes, said they were OK going without tomatoes on their burgers.

Brian Harnden said he heard some restaurants were taking them off the menu, but it didn't stop him from going out to eat. He said he figures it's better safe than sorry.

"To me, one case (of salmonella) is one case too many," Harnden said. "They're doing it for a reason, so I don't have a problem with it."

Rachel M. Douglas, a Tim Hortons spokeswoman, said the chain is confident in its supply of tomatoes.

"To remain consistent throughout the chain and as a proactive measure for our customers, we are not offering raw tomatoes until further notice," Douglas said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an alert Saturday cautioning against eating certain tomatoes and products containing raw red tomatoes.

The agency says since mid-April there have been 145 reported cases of tomato-linked salmonellosis in the United States, including at least 23 hospitalizations.

At least 15 states are reporting illnesses linked to the outbreak.

Tomatoes will still be available at Calgary grocery stores. The industry says it's in contact with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

"Their advice to us is it's business as usual here in Canada," said Jackie Crichton, director of food safety and environmental affairs with the Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors.

"There have been no illnesses associated with the U.S. outbreak here in Canada and there appears to be no link at the present time," she said.

The Public Health Agency of Canada said it is monitoring to see if there are any illnesses in Canada from the same salmonella strain. So far, none have been found.

Marc Richard, a Canadian Food Inspection Agency spokesman, said there's no reason to believe the outbreak has spread to Canada.

"There are a bunch of food stores and retailers that are making their own decisions (removing tomatoes), but that is out of an abundance of caution," Richard said.

Not all restaurants are taking the step; Joey Tomato's will not go without its namesake.

"The tomatoes that we currently use at Joeys Restaurant are sourced from California," said Britt Innes in an e-mail.

"As you may have already read, tomatoes from California are not included in the . . . alert regarding tomatoes. Therefore, we will be continuing to serve these tomatoes," she said.

The Toronto-based Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association said it cannot track how many of its 86,000 restaurants have stopped using tomatoes. The association is not advising restaurants on tomatoes, instead referring them to the CFIA.

"We are also advising our members to take the precautionary measures that are recommended," said spokeswoman Joyce Reynolds.

smassinon@theherald.canwest.com