Jalapeno and Serrano peppers become latest target in Salmonella probe
Jalapeno and Serrano peppers become latest target in Salmonella probe
WASHINGTON -- Federal disease officials advised at-risk consumers not to eat fresh Serrano or Jalapeno peppers in the latest development of an ongoing Salmonella outbreak that appears to have started with tainted tomatoes and now widened to peppers.
This is the largest foodborne outbreak linked to culture-confirmed cases to date and one of the larger Salmonella outbreaks, Robert Tauxe, deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention's food safety division said at a July 9 press briefing.
The new advisory warns at-risk consumers, such as the elderly, infants and immune-compromised, to avoid eating fresh Jalapenos and Serrano peppers until the Food & Drug Administration can confirm that contaminated products are no longer on the market. In addition, FDA is continuing its original advisory to limit the consumption of certain tomatoes grown in FDA- listed sites.
A number of studies point to the role that Jalapenos and related peppers play in this investigation, said Dr. Tauxe. The latest study of people who got sick after June 1 shows that Jalapeno peppers have been linked to some illnesses but can't explain all the illnesses, he said. Health officials believe the outbreak may have started with tomatoes and shifted to the other products later on.
But neither tomatoes nor Jalapenos explain the whole outbreak at this point, said Dr. Tauxe. Raw tomatoes, fresh Serrano peppers and fresh cilantro also remain under investigation.
More than 1,000 people across 41 states are laboratory-confirmed as part of the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak, as well as four Canadians, three of whom may have become infected while traveling in the United States. The ongoing outbreak has resulted in more than 200 hospitalizations and one death, an elderly Texas man.
"Now we are looking at sources of the peppers," said David Acheson, FDA's associate commissioner for foods. State and federal officials are tracking the peppers starting from the restaurants where people fell ill.
But there are no plans to list safe growing areas for peppers because FDA hopes that the records can track the items through distribution faster than tomatoes, according to Dr. Acheson.
FDA has yet to announce results from samples taken during the recent visits to Mexican farms, nor the latest results from tests on peppers and other foods.
The agency has been asking industry to share records on tomatoes and associated products shipped separately and in combination to see if there are points of shared distribution that can be linked back to the outbreak data, said a FDA spokesman.
Also, so far, it is business as usual at the border, according to Allison Moore, spokesperson for the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, who spoke to The Produce News hours before FDA issued the new advisory on Jalapenos and Serrano peppers.
FDA is sampling a percentage of pepper loads and other commodities now under suspicion for the Salmonella outbreak, she said. These loads are being held for three to five days until preliminary test results clear the shipments, she said, but other orders are moving ahead.
Ms. Moore said that the testing delay still gives fresh pepper companies time to get their products to the market, but companies that handle Jalapenos destined for the processed food market are complaining about the delay. "Those come across [the border] more ripe, and their shelf life is not as long," she said.
Michael Osterholm, a former Minnesota public health official who had initially criticized the federal government's handling of this outbreak, said that disease investigators were now on track in following traditional case/control procedures. He suggested that there may have been missteps early on that pointed exclusively to tomatoes.
"We still will need to go back when this is all over" to see what happened, said Dr. Osterholm. "Now people need to be patient."
The produce industry, on the other hand, appears to be running out of patience. The Produce Marketing Association and the United Fresh Produce Association have sent two letters to FDA and CDC in recent weeks asking for a meeting on their handling of the outbreak investigation and to explore ways that the produce industry could help speed investigations in the future.
"Still no response from FDA," Kathy Means, PMAs vice president of government relations, said July 9. "There's no question that there will be many lessons learned" from this outbreak, she added, noting that the trade groups are calling for mandatory food safety rules for produce and federal traceability rules.
"Everyone needs to work off the same page," she said.
This is the largest foodborne outbreak linked to culture-confirmed cases to date and one of the larger Salmonella outbreaks, Robert Tauxe, deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention's food safety division said at a July 9 press briefing.
The new advisory warns at-risk consumers, such as the elderly, infants and immune-compromised, to avoid eating fresh Jalapenos and Serrano peppers until the Food & Drug Administration can confirm that contaminated products are no longer on the market. In addition, FDA is continuing its original advisory to limit the consumption of certain tomatoes grown in FDA- listed sites.
A number of studies point to the role that Jalapenos and related peppers play in this investigation, said Dr. Tauxe. The latest study of people who got sick after June 1 shows that Jalapeno peppers have been linked to some illnesses but can't explain all the illnesses, he said. Health officials believe the outbreak may have started with tomatoes and shifted to the other products later on.
But neither tomatoes nor Jalapenos explain the whole outbreak at this point, said Dr. Tauxe. Raw tomatoes, fresh Serrano peppers and fresh cilantro also remain under investigation.
More than 1,000 people across 41 states are laboratory-confirmed as part of the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak, as well as four Canadians, three of whom may have become infected while traveling in the United States. The ongoing outbreak has resulted in more than 200 hospitalizations and one death, an elderly Texas man.
"Now we are looking at sources of the peppers," said David Acheson, FDA's associate commissioner for foods. State and federal officials are tracking the peppers starting from the restaurants where people fell ill.
But there are no plans to list safe growing areas for peppers because FDA hopes that the records can track the items through distribution faster than tomatoes, according to Dr. Acheson.
FDA has yet to announce results from samples taken during the recent visits to Mexican farms, nor the latest results from tests on peppers and other foods.
The agency has been asking industry to share records on tomatoes and associated products shipped separately and in combination to see if there are points of shared distribution that can be linked back to the outbreak data, said a FDA spokesman.
Also, so far, it is business as usual at the border, according to Allison Moore, spokesperson for the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, who spoke to The Produce News hours before FDA issued the new advisory on Jalapenos and Serrano peppers.
FDA is sampling a percentage of pepper loads and other commodities now under suspicion for the Salmonella outbreak, she said. These loads are being held for three to five days until preliminary test results clear the shipments, she said, but other orders are moving ahead.
Ms. Moore said that the testing delay still gives fresh pepper companies time to get their products to the market, but companies that handle Jalapenos destined for the processed food market are complaining about the delay. "Those come across [the border] more ripe, and their shelf life is not as long," she said.
Michael Osterholm, a former Minnesota public health official who had initially criticized the federal government's handling of this outbreak, said that disease investigators were now on track in following traditional case/control procedures. He suggested that there may have been missteps early on that pointed exclusively to tomatoes.
"We still will need to go back when this is all over" to see what happened, said Dr. Osterholm. "Now people need to be patient."
The produce industry, on the other hand, appears to be running out of patience. The Produce Marketing Association and the United Fresh Produce Association have sent two letters to FDA and CDC in recent weeks asking for a meeting on their handling of the outbreak investigation and to explore ways that the produce industry could help speed investigations in the future.
"Still no response from FDA," Kathy Means, PMAs vice president of government relations, said July 9. "There's no question that there will be many lessons learned" from this outbreak, she added, noting that the trade groups are calling for mandatory food safety rules for produce and federal traceability rules.
"Everyone needs to work off the same page," she said.
