MONDAY July 14, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- Federal health
officials are testing imported hot peppers to see if the produce could be the source
that has caused the ongoing salmonella outbreak.
As a result, the market of jalapeno peppers
may soon experience a shortage.
Hot peppers have been recently suspected sources of the
outbreak that has already sickened 1,090 people in 42 states, the District of
Columbia, and Canada since April, according to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
Some importers of jalapeno peppers have stopped shipping the
produce from Mexico because the testing for salmonella takes days, USA Today
reported.
Frontera Produce of Edinburg, a leading pepper importer in
Texas, is still shipping, but has early destroyed one $25,000 truckload of
Mexican jalapeno that had waited for 10 days before it eventually tested
negative for salmonella.
The Food and Drug Administration last week warned that those
who are at high risk of infection should avoid eating fresh jalapeno and Serrano
peppers.
Early the FDA said consumers need to avoid raw red plum
tomatoes, Roma tomatoes and round tomatoes if they come from a source that is
not on the agency's safe source list.
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