FDA Focuses on Hot Peppers in Salmonella Investigation, Lifts Tomato Warning

Article in the Wall Street Journal — Hot Peppers Are Focus Of Salmonella Probe, by Jane Zhang.  Here’s an excerpt:

The Food and Drug Administration declared tomatoes safe to eat, saying it is focusing on hot peppers in its hunt for the source of a salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 1,200 people in the U.S. and Canada.

The agency has sent investigators to look into a Mexico packer of jalapeño and Serrano peppers, though it can’t say that facility is the source of the contamination, said David Acheson, the FDA’s associate commissioner for foods, in a conference call with reporters Thursday.

The FDA, which originally blamed tomatoes for the outbreak that started April 10, says it is focusing on jalapeño peppers, which it said have caused illnesses, as well as Serrano peppers, which can be confused with jalapeños.

BGS