Subscription Center
Jul 31, 2008 11:54 AM | 2
Peppers were apparently the perps in the salmonella outbreak that sickened some 1,300 people in the U.S. and Canada since April. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it traced the responsible bacterial strain—Salmonella Saintpaul—to a Serrano pepper grown on a Mexican farm that irrigated its fields with water contaminated with it.
The farm is located in Nuevo Leon, in northeastern Mexico, about 100 miles southwest of McAllen, Tex., where authorities last week found a salmonella-tainted jalapeño at a packing plant owned by Agricola Zarigosa. It traced that pepper back to a farm in Mexican state of Tamaulipas.
"We have a smoking gun, it appears," an official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told the Associated Press.
Government officials warned consumers last week not to eat fresh jalapeños and are now saying to nix related Serranos—but the advisory only covers peppers grown in Mexico.
Yesterday's announcement came while FDA's chief of food safety David Acheson was being questioned at a Congressional hearing. The subject of the inquiry was why tomatoes were originally implicated in the outbreak. From June 3 to July 17, the FDA had warned consumers to avoid eating raw, red tomatoes, but to date the fruit has not been directly linked to the illness outbreak.
Acheson told the lawmakers that tomatoes may have been linked to the early part of the outbreak, even though there is no hard evidence yet. According to the AP, however, the same contaminated irrigation water found on the Mexican farm was used on tomatoes, as well as peppers.
(Photo of Serrano pepper: iStockphoto/Robert Szajkowski)
Tags:
tomatoes,
Acheson,
FDA,
CDC,
Serrano,
Saintpaul,
jalapeño,
salmonella,
Mexico
More News Blog:
Next: Thousands treated to total solar eclipse this morning
Previous: Presumed dinosaur flesh may just be bacterial sludge
See what we're tweeting about
notscientific To fight global drug trades it's time that Western governments go pass mere punitive measures http://t.co/ydjFm4veoV
JenLucPiquant .@seanmcarroll chats about naturalism with @mpigliucci and Julia Galef on the Rationally Speaking podcast.
http://t.co/ZGPtzemYTU JenLucPiquant Rodent Space Travelers (mice, gerbils) Perish in Orbital Test : Discovery News http://t.co/841PEWgIte
Deadline: Jun 30 2013
Reward: $1,000,000 USD
This is a Reduction-to-Practice Challenge that requires written documentation and&
Deadline: Aug 31 2013
Reward: $100,000 USD
The Geoffrey Beene Foundation Alzheimer’s Initiative (GBFAI) is launching the 2013 Geoffrey Beene Global NeuroDiscovery Challenge whose
Powered By: 
YES! Send me a free issue of Scientific American with no obligation to continue the subscription. If I like it, I will be billed for the one-year subscription.
2 Comments
Add CommentI'm so sorry, but from my reading I am uncertain if food products, such as fresh salsa, that MAY contain jalapenos, but sold in US grocery stores/Costco, would still be at risk or is it estimated that the real culprit has now passed through our food chain and jalepanos and jalepanos-containing products would be "salmonella safe"? Further, is it mandetory that foreign obtained produce used in production of salsa, be labeled as such?? Are jalepanos by defination never the red peppers of similar shape? Thanks.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIs the salmonela contaminated water irrigation danger only related to direct contact? Does evidence show whether fruit that does not come in direct contact with contaminated water can also become contaminated because the parent plant was irrigated with contaminated water?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this