The US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued a public health alert for meat and poultry products containing jalapeños that may be contaminated with Salmonella.
The alert follows a recall of fresh jalapeños from Sinaloa, Mexico, distributed by Coast Citrus Distributors. Federal health agencies are investigating a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Javiana infections linked to the peppers.
FSIS said additional meat and poultry products could be added to the alert as authorities identify more products containing the recalled ingredient.
According to the latest information from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 345 people in 27 states have been infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella.
The outbreak has resulted in 36 hospitalisations, with no deaths reported.
Of 191 people interviewed as part of the investigation, 177 — or 93% — said they had eaten at a Mexican-style restaurant before becoming ill. Reported meal dates ranged from June 14 to July 14.
The FDA said its traceback investigation identified a common grower in Sinaloa, Mexico, that supplied jalapeños to Coast Citrus Distributors as the likely source of the outbreak.
The agency recommended that Coast Citrus Distributors recall the remaining implicated product.
The company has agreed to the recall and is working with the FDA to identify and contact affected customers. It has also stopped importing from the grower identified during the investigation.
The recalled peppers were distributed to wholesalers, restaurants, distributors and food-service companies nationwide. The FDA said Coast Citrus does not appear to supply jalapeños directly to grocery stores.
Chipotle and QDOBA both received jalapeños imported by Coast Citrus Distributors from Sinaloa.
Chipotle switched suppliers for affected stores beginning July 20 and is no longer serving the implicated product.
QDOBA stopped using jalapeños at its restaurants on July 28. The FDA said all QDOBA locations had stopped serving the peppers and that it did not consider there to be an ongoing consumer risk from those establishments.
FSIS said some meat and poultry products containing the recalled jalapeños could still be in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers.
Consumers who purchased products covered by the public health alert are urged not to eat them. They should either throw the products away or return them to the place of purchase.