LOS ANGELES, June 13 (Reuters) - U.S. food safety officials continued their search on Friday for the source of Salmonella-tainted tomatoes and have not ruled out Mexico and South and Central Florida, which are major suppliers.

The officials said all indications pointed to a single geographic region as the source of the outbreak, which has sickened 228 people in 23 states.

David Acheson, associate commissioner for foods at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said on a conference call that nine people who became sick with Salmonella poisoning had eatenat two different outlets of the same restaurant chain. He declined to name the chain or the location of the restaurants.

The FDA has linked the outbreak to raw round, plum and Roma tomatoes. (Reporting by Lisa Baertlein; Editing by Ted Kerr)

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