Salmonella strain in a U.S. outbreak has been linked serrano peppers and irrigation water at a farm in Mexico

[DomS]

The salmonella strain in a U.S. outbreak has been linked to serrano peppers and irrigation water at a farm in Mexico, the FDA says...more to come

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The salmonella strain linked to the recent outbreak has been found in irrigation water and a serrano pepper at a Mexican farm, a Food and Drug Administration official told lawmakers Wednesday.
Raw jalapeño peppers from Mexico were connected to the recent salmonella outbreak, the FDA said.

Raw jalapeño peppers from Mexico were connected to the recent salmonella outbreak, the FDA said.

The discovery is a "key breakthrough" in the investigation, Dr. David Acheson, the FDA's director of food safety, said at a congressional hearing.

FDA investigators had been investigating a specific farm in Mexico, Acheson said, to look for signs of the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak.

"Two hours ago we learned that we had gotten a positive sample in both the water used for irrigation and a sample of serrano peppers from the same farm that match the outbreak strain," Acheson said.

The House hearing Wednesday had been called to look into the recent outbreak.

Last week, the FDA had said only Mexican-grown raw jalapeños and raw serrano peppers had been linked to the salmonella outbreak.

Mexican officials called those findings "premature," even as the FDA issued an advisory stating that a contaminated jalapeño pepper originated in Mexico.

Mexico's National Sanitation and Farm Food Quality Service director Enrique Sanchez told The Associated Press last week that Mexico sent a letter to the United States on Friday "expressing our concern and our most forceful complaint against this decision."

According to AP reports, Sanchez said the FDA "has no scientific proof to make a decision that will harm Mexico enormously."

Earlier, the FDA announced it had discovered salmonella on a jalapeño imported from Mexico at The Agricola Zarigosa produce distribution center in McAllen, Texas.

The FDA said traceback studies of food eaten by victims who became sick indicate the contaminated jalapeño pepper originated in Mexico.

The agency concluded the distribution center was not the source of the outbreak because peppers from a number of clusters never passed through there, said Dr. David Acheson, the agency's director of food safety.

To date, all traceback studies have led to Mexico and peppers grown in the United States have not been connected to the outbreak, he said.

Peppers grown in the United States have not been connected to the outbreak that has sickened more than 1,000 people since April, said FDA spokesman Michael Herndon.

Initially, tomatoes seemed the most likely source of the outbreak. The FDA told consumers to avoid certain raw tomatoes on June 7, prompting grocery chains and some restaurants nationwide to stop offering them.

The agency subsequently lifted that ban, determining that tomatoes currently in fields and stores are safe. Learn about the differences between salmonella and E. coli »

The FDA now advises consumers to avoid raw jalapeño peppers grown in Mexico and any foods containing raw jalapeño peppers grown in Mexico.

Only immune-compromised people, the elderly and infants should avoid raw serrano peppers from Mexico, Herndon said.

Cooked or pickled peppers from cans or jars are not part of the warning.

 

[shiner]

Originally posted by: DomS
The salmonella strain in a U.S. outbreak has been linked to serrano peppers and irrigation water at a farm in Mexico, the FDA says...more to come

There's a surprise...

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: DomS
The salmonella strain in a U.S. outbreak has been linked to serrano peppers and irrigation water at a farm in Mexico, the FDA says...more to come

Well crap

 

[Slew Foot]

So it wasnt jalapenos either.

 

[shiner]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: DomS
The salmonella strain in a U.S. outbreak has been linked to serrano peppers and irrigation water at a farm in Mexico, the FDA says...more to come

Well crap

Exactly.

 

[ayabe]

This entire thing has me pretty irritated.

There is this fresh salsa that I'm addicted to that is sold in the deli at Publix. I have been unable to get any of it for most of the past two months because of tomato/jalapeños fiasco fear machine.

I really hope that my little distributor isn't going to go bankrupt from having to throw away so much of their product due to false alarms.

Yeah salmonella gives you the shits, so what? Taco Bell does exactly the same thing but they aren't shutting down the guacamole caulk guns are they?

This is why I think fiber drinks like Metamucil are a total scam, if you are blocked up, just get a couple taco supremes, wait 30 minutes, and you will have an epic blowout, problem solved.

 

[jpeyton]

Dude, it's just Salmonella. Grow a pair.

 

[m1ldslide1]

When I saw this headline I was skeptical... I'm hesitant to trust anything the FDA says, especially when it comes to something like this. Of course it was mexican ag that is responsible...

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Dude, it's just Salmonella. Grow a pair.

im gonna have to agree here, im close to 100% positive i got hit with it over the 4th, from veggies as we made a fresh salsa and i ate a ton of it, i felt like crap for 2 days, had the shits, gas, felt strange, lotta heart burn, and then i was fine,

 

[BoomerD]

Last semester, in my enviromental conservation class, (easy way to meet the science requirement) we watched a movie that discussed the huge pollution problems in Mexico. Since very few cities/town have sewage treatment plants, all the raw sewage ends up in the rivers and streams, where it gets used for irrigation on their crops. Irrigate crops with shit water, whatdya get?
Salmonella and e-coli.

 

[DomS]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The salmonella strain linked to the recent outbreak has been found in irrigation water and a serrano pepper at a Mexican farm, a Food and Drug Administration official told lawmakers Wednesday.
Raw jalapeño peppers from Mexico were connected to the recent salmonella outbreak, the FDA said.

Raw jalapeño peppers from Mexico were connected to the recent salmonella outbreak, the FDA said.

The discovery is a "key breakthrough" in the investigation, Dr. David Acheson, the FDA's director of food safety, said at a congressional hearing.

FDA investigators had been investigating a specific farm in Mexico, Acheson said, to look for signs of the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak.

"Two hours ago we learned that we had gotten a positive sample in both the water used for irrigation and a sample of serrano peppers from the same farm that match the outbreak strain," Acheson said.

The House hearing Wednesday had been called to look into the recent outbreak.

Last week, the FDA had said only Mexican-grown raw jalapeños and raw serrano peppers had been linked to the salmonella outbreak.

Mexican officials called those findings "premature," even as the FDA issued an advisory stating that a contaminated jalapeño pepper originated in Mexico.

Mexico's National Sanitation and Farm Food Quality Service director Enrique Sanchez told The Associated Press last week that Mexico sent a letter to the United States on Friday "expressing our concern and our most forceful complaint against this decision."

According to AP reports, Sanchez said the FDA "has no scientific proof to make a decision that will harm Mexico enormously."

Earlier, the FDA announced it had discovered salmonella on a jalapeño imported from Mexico at The Agricola Zarigosa produce distribution center in McAllen, Texas.

The FDA said traceback studies of food eaten by victims who became sick indicate the contaminated jalapeño pepper originated in Mexico.

The agency concluded the distribution center was not the source of the outbreak because peppers from a number of clusters never passed through there, said Dr. David Acheson, the agency's director of food safety.

To date, all traceback studies have led to Mexico and peppers grown in the United States have not been connected to the outbreak, he said.

Peppers grown in the United States have not been connected to the outbreak that has sickened more than 1,000 people since April, said FDA spokesman Michael Herndon.

Initially, tomatoes seemed the most likely source of the outbreak. The FDA told consumers to avoid certain raw tomatoes on June 7, prompting grocery chains and some restaurants nationwide to stop offering them.

The agency subsequently lifted that ban, determining that tomatoes currently in fields and stores are safe. Learn about the differences between salmonella and E. coli »

The FDA now advises consumers to avoid raw jalapeño peppers grown in Mexico and any foods containing raw jalapeño peppers grown in Mexico.

Only immune-compromised people, the elderly and infants should avoid raw serrano peppers from Mexico, Herndon said.

Cooked or pickled peppers from cans or jars are not part of the warning.

 

[DomS]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
Last semester, in my enviromental conservation class, (easy way to meet the science requirement) we watched a movie that discussed the huge pollution problems in Mexico. Since very few cities/town have sewage treatment plants, all the raw sewage ends up in the rivers and streams, where it gets used for irrigation on their crops. Irrigate crops with shit water, whatdya get?
Salmonella and e-coli.

yeah it's pretty much recycled water.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
Last semester, in my enviromental conservation class, (easy way to meet the science requirement) we watched a movie that discussed the huge pollution problems in Mexico. Since very few cities/town have sewage treatment plants, all the raw sewage ends up in the rivers and streams, where it gets used for irrigation on their crops. Irrigate crops with shit water, whatdya get?
Salmonella and e-coli.

When I traveled through Mexico I was astounded at the pollution and trash and the attitude of what looked to be the average Mexican.

I didn't have a vehicle; I traveled by ordinary Mexican bus service. People on the bus eating or drinking would just throw their trash out of the window when finished. Walking the streets, I saw many people do the same out of their car window.

One day down in Acapulco I took the wrong bus. Anybody remember long ago when the cliff diving competition was shown on Wide World of Sports (remember the opening bit where the ski jumper and busts his @ss going down the ramp?).

Anyway, they used to show the lovely night view. The hills around Acapulco were lit up by thousands of little lights. That's where I ended up by mistake.

Those thousands of little lights are just bulbs hanging from plain ole wire strung along crude poles. They were only a few feet high, and looked more broken branches jammed into the ground.

The hillside was jammed with little shacks or huts made from spare bits of sheet metal and wood.

I sat on the bus as we slowly made our way around and watched as people in these huts simply threw their trash out the window, splattering against their neighbor's hut and then rolling downhill for a ways until coming to rest against another hut. I understood what "King of the Hill" meant and why it was a good thing to be higher up.

As I rode all around Mexico by bus I saw many of these crude huts. They look as they're mostly made with sheet metal ripped from old billboards. I even saw wrecked cars used for housing/huts, with a little more sheet added on to make additional room.

At one of the hotels I stayed, I kept hearing a strange noise. Eventually I figured out what it was, it was sewage hitting the dried leaves on the ground and making a rustling noise. You see, the toilet plumbing ran straight out he wall, and when the toilet was flushed raw sewage shot out of the side of the building and down onto the ground.

When I walked through the big market in Mexico City the stench was pretty bad. You're walking on about a 1/2-foot of squishy garbage that people just drop on the ground.

The place was filthy and polluted and I never saw anyone who cared. It's such a pity because many areas have a lot of natural beauty.

When I moved to this small town in the mountains of North Carolina my wife and I were amazed how clean it was. Even out in the rural areas, there was never any trash etc. Two days ago, on my way into work, I noticed a pile of garbage lying on the sidewalk in a nicely kept little neighborhood. It was so out of place. Looked like somebody had finished their meal and simply thrown the McDonalds bag etc out of the window of their car.

I though of all the stories I had seen the newspapers lately about people complaining about trash thrown all over the roadsides. I couldn't help but think of Mexico, and all our illegal immigrants here (Atlanta had a crackdown and they moved here) and wondered if there was a connection?

Fern

 

[m1ldslide1]

Originally posted by: Fern

I though of all the stories I had seen the newspapers lately about people complaining about trash thrown all over the roadsides. I couldn't help but think of Mexico, and all our illegal immigrants here (Atlanta had a crackdown and they moved here) and wondered if there was a connection?

Fern

Nah, my parents live in NC and I have other family in the south. Southerners just generally have issues keeping their trash off the side of the road. I even heard that there was some debate a couple of years ago about the open container law in NC - some folks feel like it encourages littering since someone who wants to enjoy a beer while driving can't risk leaving the empty can in the car.

That said, interesting story about Mexico. My post above isn't mean to suggest that I don't think that Mexico could have substandard practices, just that the FDA is about as ethical with the consumer as a Chinese toy manufacturer.

 

[SSSnail]

Well fuck, let's ship all our salmons and veggies to South Africa, problems solved. Damn those Africans and their exotic viruses, this'll teach them.

 

[Jaskalas]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
Last semester, in my enviromental conservation class, (easy way to meet the science requirement) we watched a movie that discussed the huge pollution problems in Mexico. Since very few cities/town have sewage treatment plants, all the raw sewage ends up in the rivers and streams, where it gets used for irrigation on their crops. Irrigate crops with shit water, whatdya get?
Salmonella and e-coli.

What do we get? American food, apparently.

 

[Butterbean]

I rememeber when country of origin lables for food were fought against by FDA. It was clear sign the system was broken and lobbyists in control.

 

[BoomerD]

I spent several years working for one of the local irrigation districts. In addition to providing irrigation water to the farmers, they're also the local electrical utility.
I had many occasion to be out in the fields, either to work on a canal, or to work on one of the deep-well irrigation pumps. It was pretty common to see the farmworkers pissin or crappin in the fields, whether it was because they just don't care, or because the farm labor contractor didn't provide them with proper sanitation facilities/and or the time to use those facilities, the practice still goes on today. I made the mistake of stopping to use one of their porta-johns one day...and the solid wastes were clear to the bottom of the seat...I exited as fast as possible...I could hold it for the 1/2 hour it took to get to town.
IMO, it's no surprise when we have an e-coli outbreak with spinach from the Salinas valley, or lettuce from El Centro, or peppers from Mexico...

 

[Ronstang]

Originally posted by: shinerburke

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: DomS
The salmonella strain in a U.S. outbreak has been linked to serrano peppers and irrigation water at a farm in Mexico, the FDA says...more to come

Well crap

Exactly.

More then you think. We let people cultivate and pick your food who shit in the fields, or anywhere else convenient on the property, and then act surprised we keep getting outbreaks of Salmonella and E. Coli.

 

[brandonbull]

And some wonder why Americans have trouble with all the lowest common denominators streaming north across the border. The only crap they care about is the one they are taking in the drinking water.

 

[GeezerMan]

Wow, usually by now one or more posters would chime in with the, "You guys are racists" comment. I remember my first visit to a Mexican border town. I used the bathroom in one of the fairly large tourist shops there. There was an open basket in the corner and a sign in English and Spanish asking you to throw your used toilet paper into the basket, and not into the toilet. I was shocked to see used toilet paper piled up. What a stinker. Their plumbing clogged too easily to move the paper along.
A manager of a fast food restaurant in Austin called into a radio talk show to say he has trouble with people throwing used toilet paper into the corner of his bathroom . The illegals think they have to do it here too.
It's a cultural thing that you are going to get with a third world country next to a first world country ( for now anyway)

 

[dsity]

Originally posted by: GeezerMan
Wow, usually by now one or more posters would chime in with the, "You guys are racists" comment. I remember my first visit to a Mexican border town. I used the bathroom in one of the fairly large tourist shops there. There was an open basket in the corner and a sign in English and Spanish asking you to throw your used toilet paper into the basket, and not into the toilet. I was shocked to see used toilet paper piled up. What a stinker. Their plumbing clogged too easily to move the paper along.
A manager of a fast food restaurant in Austin called into a radio talk show to say he has trouble with people throwing used toilet paper into the corner of his bathroom . The illegals think they have to do it here too.
It's a cultural thing that you are going to get with a third world country next to a first world country ( for now anyway)

wtf
double wtf