FDA announced today that it has found Salmonella saintpaul with the identical genetic fingerprint as the current outbreak on a jalapeño pepper sample taken at a McAllen, Texas wholesale company. The sample was taken in Agricola Zaragoza's facility, and FDA said the company has begun a recall of all peppers it has shipped.

NOTE: This is different from a recall initiated this weekend by Grande Produce of Hidalgo, Texas due to Salmonella found on certain products.  That Salmonella was not of the same strain as the outbreak.

While the traceback investigation indicates that the peppers taken from Agricola Zaragoza's facility were grown in Mexico, the FDA has said that it has not yet determined where the point of contamination occurred, whether at farm level, in shipping, or at this facility.  FDA is continuing to investigate the supply chain before this facility, as well as working to determine where peppers from this facility were distributed.

Due to the uncertainty as to whether any contaminated peppers may still be in the market as fresh commodities or as fresh ingredients in other foods, FDA is now advising all consumers to "avoid eating raw jalapeño peppers or products containing raw jalapeño peppers."

According to CDC's onset of illness graph on its website, the outbreak is diminishing, and the latest onset of illness date is still July 4, 2008.

FDA was careful to reinforce all ALL tomatoes currently in the marketplace are safe to eat.  CDC and FDA have not yet officially cleared tomatoes from ever causing illness, but industry members and media alike are continuing to ask that question.

For links to the FDA and CDC websites and to find the latest information concerning the Salmonella saintpaul outbreak, visit the United Fresh dedicated outbreak webpage at: http://www.unitedfresh.org/newsviews/food_safety_resource_center/salmonella_saintpaul_outbreak