WASHINGTON — The government said Thursday that the salmonella outbreak that sickened at least 1,440 people appears to be over, but its ultimate source may never be known, partly because of shortcomings in the nation’s food safety system.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration said they found strong evidence to implicate jalapeño and serrano peppers and a farm in Mexico in the largest outbreak of foodborne illness in a decade. Investigators were unable to clear domestic and imported tomatoes, however, although the evidence against tomatoes is weaker.
The FDA also lifted its warning that consumers avoid eating jalapeño and serrano peppers from Mexico. But officials pointedly said that doesn’t guarantee another such outbreak can be prevented.
“None of us can provide a cast-iron guarantee that salmonella Saintpaul will not re-emerge,” said Dr. David Acheson, the FDA’s food safety chief.
FDA and CDC officials said a number of steps are needed to improve the safety of fresh produce, even as the government and the medical community are urging consumers to eat more fruits and vegetables for better nutrition.
Among those measures: standard procedures and more funding to allow state laboratories to test samples of suspected pathogens more rapidly, congressional action to give the FDA authority to impose produce safety regulations and industry action to develop a faster system for tracing back to the farm any produce items suspected in an outbreak.
The CDC said that the outbreak began in late April and that by early August the number of new cases had fallen to levels that would be considered normal. Most victims got sick during May and June. And there have been no new restaurant clusters of cases since early July.
That “is an important indication that this particular outbreak is over,” said Dr. Robert Tauxe, deputy director of CDC’s foodborne illness branch.
Texas was the hardest-hit state, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the all confirmed cases. People were sickened in 43 states, including Colorado, and in Washington, D.C.
Consumers across the country first heard about the problem June 7 when the FDA issued a broad warning against eating various kinds of tomatoes. Yet the extensive probe found not a single contaminated tomato.
