Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspectors found the salmonella strain linked to a nationwide food poisoning outbreak in a Mexican jalapeno pepper at a Texas produce distribution plant on Monday.

Agricola Zaragoza Inc., owner of the plant, decided to recall fresh jalapenos it distributed after one tested positive for the salmonella Saintpaul, which has sickened 1,251 people in 43 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada since April. Two died from the poisoning

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declared Thursday that raw tomatoes in fields and stores are safe to eat.

However, the federal agency did not lift its warning that raw hot peppers may infect the elderly and those with weak immune system with salmonella

Mexican authorities have brushed aside suspicions that tomatoes grown in Mexico caused the food poisoning outbreak in the U.S. and Canada, citing tests on local tomato farms that yielded no salmonella.

Mexico's agriculture ministry also urged Friday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to recognize the results of its two-week study on Mexican tomato farms and clear Mexican tomatoes of suspicions of being infected with the bacteria

Jalapeno peppers and not tomatoes caused some cases of salmonella in the U.S., investigators said Wednesday, adding that the illness toll has now crossed the 1,000 mark.

In what has become the largest food-borne disease outbreak in the past decade, 1,017 people from 41 states, the District of Columbia and Canada have become sick from the rare salmonella strain dubbed Saintpaul since mid-April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC said on its Web site

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expanding its Salmonella investigation to include cilantro, jalapeno peppers, and Serrano peppers, in addition to tomatoes. The outbreak has so far sickened at least 943 people in 40 states and Washington, D.C.

The FDA is taking samples of all jalapenos and Serranos coming through the Mariposa Port of Entry and asking every vehicle to stop for inspection. The government interviewed dozens of victims with many reporting they ate fresh salsa before getting sick. The federal agency is also testing locally grown cilantro and peppers