Jalapeño Salmonella Outbreak Sickens 345 in 27 States
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- CDC is investigating a salmonella outbreak tied to jalapeños that has sickened 345 people across 27 states, with 36 hospitalized and no deaths reported as of Wednesday.
- Coast Citrus Distributors, a California-based supplier that sourced the jalapeños from Mexico, has agreed to issue a recall after the CDC traced contamination through its supply chain.
- Chipotle removed jalapeños from its menu Tuesday 'out of an abundance of caution,' and Qdoba followed Wednesday by proactively pulling them from all restaurants, though the CDC said there is no ongoing risk at either chain.
- Minnesota and Colorado account for the bulk of cases at 110 each, with Minnesota state officials reporting that most sick residents said they ate at Chipotle between June 14 and July 14.
- The FDA began investigating 'multiple ingredients' on July 22 but has not publicly named any restaurants or suppliers tied to the outbreak and did not respond to NBC News' requests for comment.
- Rutgers food safety expert Byron Chaves called the CDC's response 'delayed,' noting Minnesota first began reporting salmonella cases earlier in the summer and asking 'why is the response so broken?'
Why it matters: The FDA's investigation began July 22 — weeks before the CDC's multi-state announcement — yet the agency still has not publicly named restaurants or suppliers, leaving consumers and competing chains to learn about exposures through the restaurants themselves. Centralized produce supply chains mean a single distributor can contaminate dozens of states before regulators escalate, as the source notes both chains sourced jalapeños from one California company.
