FEAR OF JALA'PAIN'OS
PEPPERS, NOT JUST TOMATOES, EYED IN OUTBREAK
By LUKAS I. ALPERT, AP
Posted: 3:44 am
July 6, 2008
Government investigators now believe jalapeņo peppers instead of tomatoes are the leading suspect behind the record salmonella outbreak that has sickened hundreds around the country.
Faced with conflicting evidence about the role of tomatoes in the outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has begun looking at other types of produce typically paired with them, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Since most of the restaurants where the people got sick serve Mexican food, investigators have zeroed in on the ubiquitous spicy peppers - a common ingredient in both salsa and guacamole often served with tomatoes.
FDA investigators are also eyeing other ingredients in salsa, such as cilantro, scallions, serrano chili peppers and onions as possibly being behind the bacterial outbreak. Avocados, however, are not a suspect.
Investigators don't believe commercially-sold salsa in jars is a danger. Chain restaurants have also not been the source of any of the illnesses, officials said.
Starting tomorrow, health officials will begin taking samples of foods imported from Mexico and testing them in labs.
Officials increased the number of reported cases yesterday to 943 in 40 states, the District of Columbia and Canada, with 130 hospitalizations - up from 922 people just two days earlier and 869 last week.
If it turns out tomatoes were not the cause of the outbreak, it would mean the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars by the tomato industry and restaurants was unnecessary.
Restaurants pulled tomatoes from menus nationwide after the CDC named them the likely cause of the outbreak that began three months ago.
Richie Jackson of the Texas Restaurant Association - a state where roughly a third of the salmonella-poisoning cases were reported - said the shifting targets has hurt the CDC's reputation.
"To blame salsa brings nothing to the table. Until you can define which ingredient is the culprit, I don't think you can blame salsa and condemn it . . . there's all kinds of salsa," Jackson said. "I think some of the CDC warnings are a little more suspect after the tomato warnings."
Tomato producers have been dumping their product for weeks as the investigation drags on.
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