After over 14 weeks of looking, Food and Drug Administration officials investigating the salmonella outbreak finally have something to go on. In a produce distribution plant in McAllen, Texas they discovered a single pepper tainted with the same strain of salmonella, called salmonella Saintpaul, that has sickened over 1,200 people since April.
The FDA inspectors say the bacteria found on the pepper in McAllen is a genetic match with the samples taken from sick patients. But Monday’s discovery, the equivalent of a fingerprint, doesn’t solve the mystery: Authorities still don’t know where the pepper became tainted — on the farm, or in the McAllen, Texas, plant, or at some stop in between, such as a packing house…. Still, “this genetic match is a very important break in the case,” said Dr. David Acheson, the Food and Drug Administration’s food safety chief [AP].
The FDA is now warning people to avoid ...
