Tomatoes may stay off menus and store shelves for a week or longer as produce buyers, farmers and food safety investigators grapple with a widespread salmonella outbreak.

On Tuesday, federal authorities cleared more tomato-growing regions of any link to an outbreak that has sickened 167 people and may have contributed to the death of a Texas man. Many of those regions are just starting to produce tomatoes, and supply is limited.

Even if there were an abundant supply from the 26 states and countries cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, many restaurants and supermarkets are holding off on buying.

Publix Supermarkets, based in Lakeland, Fla., is an exception. The chain, with locations in five states, should have tomatoes back in stock by Thursday or Friday, says spokeswoman Brenda Reid. It's buying from areas on the FDA's approved list.

"We're in peak season for tomatoes," she says.

The FDA has warned consumers not to eat round red, Roma or plum tomatoes unless they are from a growing area not associated with the outbreak. Cases of the unusual salmonella saintpaul strain started to appear in mid-April, and have since cropped up in 17 states, most in the Southwest, West and Midwest. Cherry and grape tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes, and those sold on the vine have not been associated with the outbreak.

Mexico and Florida were major production areas when the outbreak began and are still large suppliers at this time of year. On Tuesday, a Mexican tomato growers association said it would stop shipments to the United States. Florida growers have virtually shut down as well, with retailers sending back truckloads of orders, but that could change. The FDA added some regions of Florida to its cleared list on Tuesday. Mexico and other areas in Florida are not on the list.

Growers in states such as Georgia, South Carolina and California, which federal investigators have said are not associated with the outbreak, are just starting to harvest and ship.

Within two weeks, there should be plenty of tomatoes available, says Amy Philpott, vice president of communications for United Fresh Produce Association, an industry trade group.

But convincing consumers, retailers and restaurants to restock is another matter. The country's largest restaurant chains and supermarkets have dropped tomatoes, with many saying they're avoiding all tomatoes regardless of origin out of an abundance of caution.

When the FDA advised consumers to stop eating spinach two years ago, in the wake of an e.coli 0157:H7 outbreak that sickened hundreds and killed three, sales took a nose dive. A year after the outbreak, spinach still hadn't recovered.

Georgia growers want to avoid that and are trying to reassure buyers, says Charles Hall, executive director of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association. Some farmers already have seen significant drops in orders, he says. Tomatoes are a $90 million to $100 million crop in South Georgia.

With a perishable crop like tomatoes, a farmer has few options. The varieties grown in Georgia are best for eating raw, not for processing, Hall says. And most canneries are too far away, in the Midwest, to be a practical alternative.

"What we're hoping won't happen is that we lose our buying customers for several months, until they regain confidence that the product is safe," Hall says.

Whole Foods Market and Harry's Farmers Market, which hold a small share of the Atlanta grocery market, have restocked produce bins and prepared foods with tomatoes from states cleared by federal authorities. Publix, one of the three largest supermarket chains in Atlanta, plans to carry tomatoes from Georgia, South Carolina and Canada based on advice from federal food safety investigators.

"They have indicated to us that Georgia is a safe place," Reid says. "So we're going to trust, and, of course, stay very close to those sources."

Kroger is planning to wait, spokesman Glynn Jenkins says, but could resume carrying tomatoes in a couple of weeks.