The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has lifted its advice to consumers to avoid eating jalapeńo and serrano peppers grown, harvested or packed in Mexico.
The FDA's action comes on the heels of the CDC announcement that the salmonella saintpaul outbreak appears to be over, and that jalapeńo peppers and serrano peppers grown in Mexico and associated with the outbreak are no longer in circulation in the U.S. market. In July, the FDA lifted its advice to avoid raw red round, red Roma, and red plum tomatoes.
The salmonella outbreak, which began in April, sickened at least 1,442 people in 43 states, Washington, D.C., and Canada. Those cases include 286 people who were hospitalized and two people whose deaths might have been linked to salmonella infection.
However, the FDA continues to work with the CDC, Mexican authorities, state regulatory agencies and food industry groups to conduct surveillance for cases of infection to find the precise source of the salmonella.
The FDA found the outbreak strain on a jalapeno pepper grown in Mexico and on a serrano pepper and in irrigation water on a second Mexican farm.
