Today, CDC and FDA announced that they are concentrating their investigation on jalapeño peppers, rather than just tomatoes. This announcement narrows the scope of the investigation, which FDA said last week focused more broadly on “other items commonly consumed with tomatoes.” The CDC and FDA’s statement about jalapeño peppers should end speculation about other produce items not ever associated with the outbreak.
Here are some key messages that we think are important to understand and to share with your customers:
Tomatoes in the U.S. market today are from areas that FDA has specifically cleared and thus can be enjoyed with confidence. While CDC and FDA are still reluctant to drop their earlier advisories about certain types of tomatoes, the fact is there are no tomatoes in commerce from production regions that are not cleared. In addition, the traceback investigation of tomatoes has failed to identify any common tomato source that would explain the wide geographic distribution of illnesses. Further, the fact that illnesses have continued after all tomatoes that were being marketed in the earlier stages of the outbreak are now out of production and out of the marketplace provides strong indication that some product other than tomatoes is a more likely source.
We are all clearly frustrated, but it is good that CDC and FDA have narrowed the investigation, and we urge them to complete the investigation on jalapeño peppers quickly and thoroughly so that either a source for the outbreak can be found or jalapeño peppers can be cleared. In an abundance of caution, CDC has advised immune compromised consumers, such as the very young and the very old, to not eat raw jalapeño peppers. However, both CDC and FDA have clearly said they are not advising industry to remove these products from menus because there is no proof that these products are at risk.
We will continue to keep you informed, but, as always, please contact us if you have questions.
Amy Philpott, 202-303-3400 ext. 425 (office) or 703-472-6615 (cell)
