Salmonella Traced to Mexican Jalapeno at Texas Plant

A jalapeno pepper, grown on a farm in Mexico and found at a Texas distribution center, was tainted with the salmonella strain that has sickened more than 1,200 people, U.S. regulators said.

The Food and Drug Administration is urging Americans not to eat fresh jalapenos after the contaminated pepper was found at the Agricola Zaragosa distribution center in McAllen, Texas, said David Acheson, the agency's assistant commissioner for foods, in a conference call with reporters today. Officials don't know if the contamination occurred at the farm, the center or elsewhere.

The finding is a ``very important break in the case'' for regulators after weeks of investigating the outbreak, first linked to raw tomatoes on June 7, Acheson said. Officials, who don't know where the contamination occurred, are now visiting the farm in Mexico and searching distribution records to determine if any other produce was tainted.

``Although the pepper was grown in Mexico, it may not have been contaminated there,'' Acheson told reporters. ``The critical part of this is not to say, `We've got this figured out.'''


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FDA Says Tomatoes Not Linked to Salmonella Outbreak

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday, July 17, that it has determined that fresh tomatoes now available in the domestic market are not associated with the current outbreak of Salmonella Saintpaul. The statement also removes the crippling June 7 warning against eating certain types of red raw tomatoes, which nearly brought to its knees the tomato industry.

The FDA statement still warns that elderly persons, infants and people with impaired immune systems, should avoid eating raw jalapeño and raw serrano peppers. Now, Jalapeño pepper importers have seen their trade being effectively crippled by the latest developments in the investigation to trace the source of the bacteria.

The problem is that the government-imposed Salmonella tests take too long, and the Jalapeños are spoiled in warehouses while waiting for the green light to reach customers. Testing takes several days, while importers waited as long as ten days for test results, and had to destroy the stock because it was rotten.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in its latest press release that 1,220 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 42 states, the District of Columbia and Canada, quoting the CDC.

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US Agriculture Secretary Confident Meat is Safe

The U.S. agriculture secretary expressed confidence in the nation's food safety system, but said the meat processing industry will always face challenges because the bacteria that animals carry evolves.
"I don't think we'll ever see a totally bacteria-free environment in the United States," Ed Schafer said Tuesday during a visit of several Nebraska meat processing plants.
His tour didn't include the Nebraska Beef Ltd. plant in Omaha, which recalled 5.3 million pounds of meat last week that has been linked to 41 E. coli infections in Michigan and Ohio.
Schafer said he thinks the company, not the USDA inspectors at the plant, should be held responsible for the tainted meat. He said the inspectors are only there to make sure the plant follows USDA rules.
The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service concluded last week that Nebraska Beef's production practices were insufficient to effectively control E. coli bacteria.
Now the focus is on determining exactly how the meat was contaminated at Nebraska Beef, he said, and making sure steps are taken to prevent future problems.

Please read the full Washington Post article at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/09/AR2008070900421.html

Search for Salmonella Culprit Expands

Investigators who spent nearly a month searching for the cause of a salmonella outbreak in tomatoes are now holding and testing shipments of imported jalapeños at the Mexican border in hopes of finding the outbreak strain.

Officials from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say it is premature to declare jalapeños the lead suspect and still list it with tomatoes, cilantro and serrano peppers as one of the common salsa ingredients under investigation. Officials have also stepped up testing of cilantro and serrano peppers, but "there is no specific 'prime suspect,' " FDA spokeswoman Stephanie Kwisnek said.

As the number of illnesses tops 900, the stakes are high. If federal officials leading the probe wait too long for proof, there's a risk that more people will get sick. But if they single out the wrong food, a mistake could cost an industry millions of dollars. The tomato industry says it has already lost $100 million.


Please read the full Washington Post article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/07/AR2008070702488.html?hpid=moreheadlines

33 confirmed cases of E. coli infections in Michigan and Ohio

State departments of health and agriculture in Michigan and Ohio, collaborating local health jurisdictions, CDC, and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) are investigating a multi-state outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections. Based on this investigation, as of 5pm EST, June 25, 2008, 33 confirmed cases have been linked both epidemiologically and by molecular fingerprinting to this outbreak, 16 in Michigan and 17 in Ohio. These illnesses began between May 30 and June 12. Seventeen ill persons have been hospitalized. One patient has developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS). No deaths linked to the outbreak have been reported.

Read the full article at the CDC website:
http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/june2008outbreak/index.html

More Money for Food Safety Is Sought

WASHINGTON — Two days after announcing a large-scale recall of raw tomatoes, the Bush administration asked Congress on Monday to give the Food and Drug Administration an additional $275 million in next year’s budget to help improve the safety of the nation’s food supply.
“I would like to once again strongly urge Congress to act quickly to enhance the safety of food and medical products,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt in an evening conference call with reporters.
With the added money, the F.D.A. would open offices in China, India and Central America and provide more inspections of food and medical products, Mr. Leavitt said. The agency would also hire another 490 people in addition to hires the agency already planned.
“We’ll be able to expand the total workforce by 1,500 people, or 15 percent growth,” the food and drug commissioner, Andrew C. von Eschenbach, said.
The announcement comes after a series of food and drug safety problems led a panel of outside advisers to the agency to conclude that American lives were in danger because the F.D.A. lacked the money, the staff and the scientific expertise to protect them...


Read the full article by Gardiner Harris at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/10/washington/10fda.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=food+safety&st=nyt&oref=slogin

Salmonella Outbreak Leads to Calls for Reform

The United States has missed crucial opportunities to improve the safety of fresh produce, and this week's foodborne outbreak in tomatoes is a renewed call for reform, Rep. Rosa DeLauro said on Thursday. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday a salmonella outbreak in at least nine states appears to be linked to consumption of certain types of raw red tomatoes and products containing raw red tomatoes. So far, there have been 57 reported cases of illness in Texas and New Mexico. About 30 more people have fallen sick in seven states.The health scare is the latest threat to the U.S. food supply.

Read more of the Reuters article at: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0547439720080605