Salmonella Saintpaul and jalapeno peppers

It is three weeks now since I last wrote a post on Salmonella Saintpaul. The CDC report that as of July 17th 1237 people have been infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 43 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. The internet is full of reports about Salmonella Saintpaul as the investigation may have moved forward towards finding the potential source. Yesterday the FDA issued two recall press releases. The first was for Grande Produce, LTD. CO of Hidalgo, Texas who was recalling Jalepeno Peppers and Serrano Peppers distributed between May 17th and July 17th, 2008; and Avocados, all sizes, with lot #HUE08160090889. This was due to the potential presence of Salmonella,  although the recall notice stated that:

"According to the Texas and North Carolina Departments of Health, the strain of Salmonella found in this company's jalapeño and serrano peppers and in its avocado is not Salmonella Saintpaul, and is not believed to be related to the current Salmonella outbreak.

The recall is a result of sampling not by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) but by the Texas Department of State Health Services (Texas Health) and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (North Carolina Health ) which revealed that these products contained the bacteria.

The company has voluntarily initiated a recall of its already distributed products and has stopped future distribution while the FDA, Texas Health, North Carolina Health and the company continue to investigate to determine the source of the problem."

The second recall press release was a recall of Jalapeno Peppers by Agricola Zaragoza,   Inc. of McAllen, TX that had been distributed since June 30th,   2008 because they too were potential ly contaminated with Salmonella. The recall note states that:

"The recall is a result of sampling by FDA, which revealed that these Jalapeno Peppers were contaminated with the same strain of Salmonella Saintpaul   responsible for the current Salmonella outbreak. It is unknown at this time which, if any, of the more than 1,200 illnesses reported to date are related to this particular product or to the grower who supplied this product. Distribution of these products has been suspended while FDA, the Texas Department of State Health Services and the company continue their investigation as to the source of the problem."