FDA Confirms Jalapeños
As a Source of Salmonella Outbreak
By JANE ZHANG and JANET ADAMY
July 22, 2008; Page A3
After weeks of searching, federal regulators have found a smoking gun in the salmonella outbreak originally blamed on tomatoes: a jalapeño pepper contaminated with the rare Saintpaul strain of salmonella.
The positive sample was found in a Mexican-grown pepper at Agricola Zaragoza Inc., a relatively small distributor in McAllen, Texas, said David Acheson, associate commissioner for foods for the Food and Drug Administration. The agency has issued a warning to consumers against eating fresh jalapeño peppers and foods made with them.
The distributor has recalled all peppers, but declined to comment on the finding. In a news release posted through the FDA, the company said the jalapeño peppers were first shipped since June 30 to Georgia and Texas in 35-pound plastic crates and 50-pound bags without labels or brand names.
Consumers and retailers who bought jalapeño peppers are urged to contact their suppliers to make sure they aren't involved in the recall. Restaurants with those peppers are urged to get rid of them. The FDA also recommended that retailers, restaurants, and food services not sell or serve any fresh jalapeño peppers. The warning doesn't apply to processed, cooked or pickled peppers.
The warning is likely to harm the jalapeño industry, just as a similar warning damaged the tomato industry as consumer demand dropped. Some restaurants started pulling jalapeños after the government fingered them in the probe, but many chains have kept them on the menu until now or started serving them cooked instead of raw.
"It will affect [the jalapeño industry's] market, their farming operations, whether they are in...Mexico or anywhere in the world," said Tom Nassif, president and chief executive of Western Growers, a trade group representing the fresh-produce industry in California and Arizona.
Dr. Acheson said FDA investigators found the positive sample while inspecting the distribution center as part of an investigation into why a group of people became sick after eating at a restaurant it supplied. He said investigators aren't sure where contamination occurred -- whether at the Mexican farm where the pepper was grown or further up the distribution chain.
He said investigators are taking samples at the farm. Officials also are looking at the distributor's records to try to figure out where the company's peppers might have passed through. Dr. Acheson declined to release the names of the company's clients.
Salmonella is a feces-borne bacteria that can cause diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. Most people recover without treatment, but in severe cases the infection can cause death. Authorities have said the latest outbreak, which began in April, caused the death of a Texas man in his 80s and may have contributed to the death of another Texas man, who had cancer.
The FDA also is investigating a packer of jalapeño and Serrano peppers in Mexico to see whether the Saintpaul strain is present there. The FDA said it hasn't eliminated Serrano peppers as a suspect.
Last week, the FDA dropped a warning about eating certain types of raw tomatoes. For more than a month, the agency, along with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, had blamed tomatoes for the outbreak, which, in its official count, has sickened 1,251 people nationwide. None of the 1,700 tomato samples collected by the agency were contaminated with the Saintpaul strain of salmonella.
The agency hasn't exonerated tomatoes, in part because of risks of cross contamination.
Tomato growers responded angrily to Monday's announcement. The industry estimates it has lost hundreds of millions of dollars since the government first issued its warning in early June.
"They will never say that tomatoes were not implicated, because to do so would [imply] they caused hundreds of millions of dollars of damages for nothing," Mr. Nassif said. His group plans to meet next week with lawmakers to discuss whether the government can put together "make whole" remedies to tomato growers who lost money.
Dr. Acheson defended the government's handling of the outbreak. "This is not about punishing anybody. This is about protecting public health."
The National Restaurant Association, the industry's main trade group, advised members Monday to remove fresh jalapeño peppers from their menus. Restaurants may replace fresh peppers with cooked or otherwise processed jalapeño peppers, said Donna Garren, vice president of health and safety regulatory affairs for the National Restaurant Association.
Chains began making contingency plans weeks ago when the government first pointed to jalapeños. Restaurants are expected to begin removing the fresh peppers immediately. The association said removing jalapeños won't have as broad an impact as when restaurants removed some types of tomatoes, since jalapeños aren't in as many dishes.
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. said Monday it plans to continue cooking all of the jalapeños it serves instead of removing them. Taco Bell, a unit of Yum Brands Inc., said its serves packaged and pickled jalapeños, not raw ones.
Brinker International Inc. said it replaced the fresh jalapeños it serves in the pico de gallo at its Chili's restaurants with canned jalapeños. At its On the Border restaurants, where fresh jalapeños are in a number of items, the company is substituting poblano peppers.
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