Overview
- Federal agencies say about 345 people in 27 states have been sickened by Salmonella Javiana, with 36 hospitalizations and no reported deaths.
- The FDA traced the outbreak to jalapeños grown in Sinaloa, Mexico and distributed by Coast Citrus Distributors, which agreed to recall the implicated peppers and stopped imports from the identified grower.
- The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a public-health alert on Aug. 8 listing 18 meat and poultry products that contain the recalled jalapeños and warned that more downstream items are likely to be identified.
- Major chains that received the peppers, including Chipotle and QDOBA, removed the jalapeños and are not considered ongoing risks, while retailers and processors such as Taylor Farms have begun voluntary recalls of prepared items like salsa and guacamole.
- Public-health officials urge consumers to discard or return affected products and for businesses to clean and sanitize surfaces to prevent cross-contamination, and investigators warn the episode highlights gaps in produce traceability and surveillance that can slow containment.