The HEB grocery chain is removing from its shelves all fresh jalapenos, pico de gallo and other items prepared with raw jalapenos following the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) warning that the peppers might be linked to salmonella.

The voluntary recall by the Texas-based grocery store chain was ordered as a precaution after FDA officials found a strain of salmonella in a Mexican-grown jalapeno in a Texas food processing plant.

It is still not clear to what extent the produce of the Texas-based plant was distributed. According to the FDA Web site, the agency obtained a positive salmonella sample during an inspection at McAllen-based produce distributor Agricola Zaragoza.

The FDA is asking consumers to avoid eating raw jalapenos, the new suspect in a salmonella outbreak that has infected 1,220 people in 42 states. The FDA determined tomatoes now available in the domestic market are not associated with the outbreak.

The nationwide tomato warning on tomatoes was lifted on July 17. The recall excludes canned, cooked and pickled jalapenos, according to a news release.