More than 300 people across 27 U.S. states have fallen ill with salmonella infections in an outbreak that health officials say is linked to jalapeno peppers from Mexico.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Wednesday that at least 345 people had gotten sick across the United States so far.
There have been 36 hospitalizations linked to the outbreak and no recorded deaths.
This is the second major outbreak of food-related illnesses in the U.S. since July, as thousands of people across the country have been infected with a diarrhea-causing parasite linked to fruits and vegetables, including lettuce.
The Public Health Agency of Canada is “not currently investigating any salmonella illnesses associated with the salmonella outbreak linked to jalapenos in the U.S.,” a spokesperson for Health Canada told CBC in an email on Thursday.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) also told CBC it was aware of the U.S. outbreak, but there was no evidence that any affected products were distributed in Canada.
What is salmonella, and how is it transmitted?
Salmonella is a type of bacteria that makes people sick with what’s called salmonellosis, an intestinal tract infection.
People most frequently get salmonella infections by ingesting food or water contaminated with feces that contains salmonella bacteria.
“The contamination usually happens at the level of the farm, but technically you can introduce a contaminant at any point,” said Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases specialist at the Toronto General Hospital.
Many types of foods can be affected, from nuts and produce to chicken, eggs and dairy products.
A diarrhea-causing parasite has led to a growing outbreak in the United States that has sickened more than 1,000 people and sent dozens to hospital. As of Wednesday, multiple states had reported cyclospora infections, which can cause watery diarrhea, bloating, fever and nausea. While cases are common in the spring and summer, the current outbreak has led to an unusually high number, making it one of the largest the country has seen. No deaths have been reported.
What’s the source of the current U.S. salmonella outbreak?
The FDA and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said they had traced the salmonella outbreak to jalapenos from Sinaloa, a state on Mexico’s west coast.
The agencies said the jalapenos were imported into the U.S. by Coast Citrus Distributors, which then delivered them to other distributors as well as to restaurants and food service companies.
“At this time, Coast Citrus Distributors does not appear to supply jalapenos directly to grocery stores,” the FDA said.
Bogoch explained that salmonella bacteria can be killed off when food is cooked. But in the case of jalapenos, which are often consumed raw, “there’s the risk of ingestion of the bacteria and you can get this infection.”
Where in the U.S. have infections been reported?
According to data from the CDC, Minnesota and Colorado recorded the most salmonella cases so far, with 110 each.
That was followed by Illinois with 30, Kansas with 13 and Wisconsin with nine.
Which restaurants have been affected?
The FDA said restaurant chains Chipotle and Qdoba had received jalapenos distributed by Coast Citrus Distributors from Sinaloa.
Chipotle said it removed the affected peppers from its U.S. restaurants after the outbreak was reported while Qdoba said it removed jalapenos from all its locations “out of an abundance of caution.”
“The recalled jalapeno peppers are no longer in Chipotle restaurants,” Laurie Schalow, the company’s chief corporate affairs and food safety officer, said in a written statement sent to CBC.
The FDA says it no longer considers the two restaurant chains to pose any health risk.
Were any outbreak-linked jalapenos distributed to Chipotle or Qdoba restaurants in Canada?
No.
A Chipotle spokesperson told CBC News the recalled jalapenos were not distributed to any restaurants in Canada. Chipotle has 86 locations across the country: 15 in Alberta, 23 in B.C. and 48 in Ontario, according to its website.
Qdoba, which has seven restaurants in Manitoba and seven in Ontario, also told CBC in an email on Thursday that none of the company’s Canadian locations received jalapenos from Coast Citrus Distributors.
“Meanwhile, Qdoba has proactively removed jalapenos from all our U.S. restaurants at this time,” the email said.
Have any of the outbreak-linked jalapenos entered Canada in other ways?
Not that we know of.
A Canadian Food Inspection Agency spokesperson said in an email on Thursday that, “at this time, there is no evidence that products implicated in this outbreak were distributed in Canada.”
CBC reached out to Coast Citrus Distributors by phone Thursday but could not get a comment in time for publication.
What are the symptoms of salmonella?
While some people who get salmonella infections won’t have any symptoms, many develop gastrointestinal problems such as diarrhea, nausea, stomach cramps and vomiting.
People usually begin to exhibit symptoms between six hours and six days after they are infected, and the symptoms can last between four to seven days, according to the CDC.
Bogoch at the Toronto General Hospital said people who are immunocompromised, as well as children and the elderly, are at greater risk of developing more severe infections.
“The other way people can get really sick is just through dehydration” as a result of salmonella-caused diarrhea, he added.
How can you prevent salmonella from spreading?
Bogoch stressed that “impeccable hand hygiene” is key.
He also noted that because U.S. health authorities have tracked the source of the current jalapeno-linked outbreak, they can move more quickly to mitigate its spread.
“There are rarely any positives when you’re talking about foodborne outbreaks,” Bogoch told CBC, “but at least in this case it’s been identified to a particular food source and a particular region, which means you can take steps to remove the impacted products a little faster.”
