UPDATE 2-FDA has tomato Salmonella reports in 17 states

(Adds details on safe suppliers, outcome of Houston death investigation, sources of Salmonella infection, comment from industry analyst)

By Lisa Baertlein

LOS ANGELES, June 11 (Reuters) - U.S. health officials said on Wednesday they are still receiving reports of people falling ill from eating Salmonella-tainted tomatoes and that they now have 167 reported cases from 17 states.

Representatives from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said they are continuing to search for the source of the Salmonella outbreak, which has hit New Mexico and Texas the hardest.

Officials said the earliest reported onset of illness was on April 16 and that the latest was May 27. Of the 167 cases reported, 23 have resulted in hospitalization.

Health officials in Texas investigated the death of a man who had been infected with Salmonella Saintpaul but ruled that the cause of death was cancer, according to the Houston Department of Health and Human Services.

Ian Williams, chief of the CDC's OutbreakNet Team, said one of the interesting features about the scare was that it has not been associated with any specific restaurants or grocery stores.

The outbreak -- linked to raw plum, Roma and round tomatoes -- has hit the $1.28 billion U.S. tomato market hard.

Restaurants and grocery stores have yanked raw tomatoes from menus and store shelves and consumers have sworn off the fruit until the problem is pinpointed.