(CIDRAP News) A nationwide Salmonella outbreak linked mainly to fresh hot peppers from Mexico is ending, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said yesterday, amid reports that contaminated shipments had been turned back at the US border well before the outbreak and that some restaurants and grocery stores are still buying the imported peppers.
(CIDRAP News) The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved the use of irradiation to kill pathogens in fresh spinach and iceberg lettuce, which were linked to Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreaks that sickened hundreds of people in the fall of 2006.
(CIDRAP News) A grocery chain based in Arizona removed Mexican-grown jalapeno peppers from its produce departments after some of the peppers from one of its distributors tested positive for the Salmonella outbreak strain, as the number of sick linked to the outbreak today climbed to 1,330.
(CIDRAP News) Experts and industry leaders speaking at congressional hearings this week on the nationwide Salmonella outbreak said federal agencies should take cues from state programs if they want to improve the traceability of fresh produce and the success of foodborne disease outbreak investigations.
Editor's note: In a statement released late on Jul 30, the FDA said that the Mexican farm where the contaminated jalapeno pepper found in Texas last week was grown is not the same one where the contaminated irrigation water and Serrano pepper were found, contrary to the report below.
(CIDRAP News) After more than 1,300 cases of Salmonella infection in 43 states over 3 months, investigators have finally found a smoking gun: a contaminated jalapeno pepper from the home of a Colorado resident who was sickened in the outbreak.
(CIDRAP News) The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently said jalapeno peppers grown in the United States are safe to eat, in view of findings that suggest the contaminated peppers responsible for many illnesses in the nationwide Salmonella outbreak came only from Mexican sources.
(CIDRAP News) – New details emerged today about breaks in the Salmonella investigation that led to the identification of the outbreak strain in a jalapeno pepper, as the number of cases in the nationwide outbreak rose to 1,284.
(CIDRAP News) Federal authorities announced today that investigators working at a Texas produce facility found Salmonella that genetically matches the nationwide outbreak strain on a jalapeno pepper.
(CIDRAP News) Texas and North Carolina officials yesterday announced recalls of avocadoes and jalapeno and Serrano peppers after some samples tested positive for Salmonella. But Texas officials said they did not find the Salmonella strain involved in the current nationwide outbreak, while the strain in the North Carolina produce was not yet known.
