Food safety investigators clear U.S grown peppers

Brian W. Smith

Contributor

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The FDA is advising consumers that jalapeño and Serrano peppers grown in the United States are not connected with the recent Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak.

The investigators continue to advise consumers to avoid raw jalapeño peppers--and the food that contains them--if the peppers have been grown, harvested or packed in Mexico. Elderly persons, infants and people with impaired immune systems are the most susceptible.

The FDA has also determined that the Agricola Zarigoza produce distribution center in McAllen, Texas—the location where the agency took the positive jalapeño pepper sample—was not the original source of contamination. Investigators are still looking at whether tomatoes grown on the same farm as tainted peppers could have been involved in the outbreak of salmonella that sickened over 1,200 people