Mexican farm water and pepper test positive for Salmonella outbreak strain
Mexican farm water and pepper test positive for Salmonella outbreak strain
A sample of Serrano pepper and irrigation water on the same Mexican farm tested positive for the Salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 1,300 people.
As a result of the finding, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration expanded its consumer advisory to warn all consumers to avoid eating raw Serrano peppers from Mexico in addition to the raw Jalapeno peppers grown in Mexico.
FDA announced the test results at a July 30 congressional hearing, calling it a key breakthrough in an investigation that began focusing on tomatoes in late May but has led investigators to Jalapeno and now Serrano peppers.
A top official at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention called the finding "a smoking gun" and evidence that at least two commodities played a role in the four-month outbreak. Federal health officials refuse to rule out tomatoes as another commodity that may have played a role in the outbreak.
Just days ago, FDA inspectors found a positive sample of a Jalapeno pepper in a distribution center owned by Agricola Zaragosa in McAllen, TX, and grown on another Mexican farm. Now a team of three FDA inspectors is testing Mexican farms and distribution points to see how the Mexican-grown hot peppers may have become contaminated and traveled across the U.S. border.
"The FDA is still analyzing many of the samples taken at various farms in Mexico," FDA said in a July 30 press release. "If laboratory results warrant, the FDA will provide consumers with additional cautions or warnings necessary to protect their health."
As a result of the finding, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration expanded its consumer advisory to warn all consumers to avoid eating raw Serrano peppers from Mexico in addition to the raw Jalapeno peppers grown in Mexico.
FDA announced the test results at a July 30 congressional hearing, calling it a key breakthrough in an investigation that began focusing on tomatoes in late May but has led investigators to Jalapeno and now Serrano peppers.
A top official at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention called the finding "a smoking gun" and evidence that at least two commodities played a role in the four-month outbreak. Federal health officials refuse to rule out tomatoes as another commodity that may have played a role in the outbreak.
Just days ago, FDA inspectors found a positive sample of a Jalapeno pepper in a distribution center owned by Agricola Zaragosa in McAllen, TX, and grown on another Mexican farm. Now a team of three FDA inspectors is testing Mexican farms and distribution points to see how the Mexican-grown hot peppers may have become contaminated and traveled across the U.S. border.
"The FDA is still analyzing many of the samples taken at various farms in Mexico," FDA said in a July 30 press release. "If laboratory results warrant, the FDA will provide consumers with additional cautions or warnings necessary to protect their health."
