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Peppers May Also be Responsible for Salmonella Saintpaul Outbreak

By Pritzker | Ruohonen

The number of confirmed cases of Salmonella Saintpaul has again risen, bringing the total to 1090. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) people in 42 states and the District of Columbia have been sickened in the outbreak:

Alabama (2 persons), Arkansas (14), Arizona (49), California (9), Colorado (15), Connecticut (4), Florida (2), Georgia (25), Idaho (5), Illinois (104), Indiana (16), Iowa (2), Kansas (17), Kentucky (1), Louisiana (1), Maine (1), Maryland (29), Massachusetts (26), Michigan (19), Minnesota (19), Mississippi (2), Missouri (15), New Hampshire (4), Nevada (11), New Jersey (11), New Mexico (99), New York (30), North Carolina (14), Ohio (8), Oklahoma (24), Oregon (10), Pennsylvania (12), Rhode Island (3), South Carolina (2), Tennessee (8), Texas (408), Utah (2), Virginia (31), Vermont (2), Washington (17), West Virginia (1), Wisconsin (11), and the District of Columbia (1).

Health officials have had a difficult time pinpointing the source of this outbreak. The CDC has acknowledged some of these challenges, stating:

“The investigation is complex and difficult. One difficult aspect is that people often have difficulty remembering exactly what foods they ate, and remembering specific ingredients in those foods is even more difficult. Although laboratory testing of foods might help identify the source, perishable foods that were consumed by ill persons are often not available to test. When food items are mixed together and consumed in the same dish, all the items may be statistically linked to illness. In that case, determining by statistical means which item caused the illness can be difficult or impossible. Tracing suspect produce items back to processors and growers is an integral part of the effort to identify a single source and a possible means of contamination.”

Health officials first reported that tomatoes were the source of the outbreak, but the duration of the outbreak and further interviews with patients suggested that peppers may have also made people sick. According to the CDC:

“Illnesses were linked to an item containing fresh jalapeño peppers and no other of the suspect items. The accumulated data from all investigations indicate that jalapeño peppers caused some illnesses but that they do not explain all illnesses. Raw tomatoes, fresh serrano peppers, and fresh cilantro also remain under investigation. Investigators from many agencies are collaborating to track the source of the implicated peppers and other produce items.”

The CDC advises that until they are certain that the contaminated items are off the market, consumers, especially those at heightened risk for illness, should avoid eating uncooked jalapeño, and Serrano peppers, as well as raw tomatoes not on the Food and Drug Administration’s Safe List.

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on July 11, 2008 (boomark / email).