Consumer Affair
Salmonella found in Jalapeno peppers
By Sue Mueller
Jul 21, 2008 - 7:26:28 PM

MONDAY July 21, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- U.S. health regulators have found in a jalapeno pepper the strain that caused the ongoing outbreak sickening more than 1,200 people, Reuters.com reported today.

The contaminated pepper, found at a south Texas distribution facility, was imported from Mexico but the product might get contaminated in any of many possible places, the Food and Drug Administration said.

"FDA has found a genetically matched Salmonella saintpaul isolate from a distribution center called Agricola Zaragosa in McAllen, Texas," Dr. David Acheson, associate commissioner for foods at the FDA, was quoted as telling reporters at a teleconference.

Because of the finding, the agency warned that no one should eat or served uncooked jalapeño or Serrano peppers which look like jalapeño peppers anywhere in the U.S.

The outbreak triggered by Salmonella saintpaul has resulted in 1,251 cases of illness and 229 hospitalizations, said Dr. Roberts Tauxe at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Two people have died with infection of the bacteria, according to the CDC.

The FDA lifted the warning against eating raw tomatoes last week because it believed no tomatoes on the market would have been tainted with salmonella.   And tomatoes were downgraded to be a minor suspect for the source of contamination.

The CDC continued to receive cases of salmonella stpaul, but the number of reported cases is getting smaller.

Inspectors have been dispatched to Mexico to search for a possible source of the contamination.

Mexico early denied that its jalapeno peppers were involved in the outbreak, but Mexico agriculture ministry spokesman Marco Antonio Sifuentes was cited by Reuters as saying that his country was opening an investigation into the possible link.