Hundreds of people in 27 states have been sickened in a salmonella outbreak linked to jalapeño peppers, including at Chipotle and Qdoba restaurants, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
As of Tuesday, 345 cases had been reported with 36 people hospitalized, the agency said Wednesday. The cases, which date back to June 19, are expected to rise and expand to more states.
Twenty-seven “illness clusters” have been identified at Chipotle and Qdoba locations in seven states, the agency said, after health officials found that most of those who got sick reported eating in a Mexican-style restaurant.
Chipotle said in a statement that it had replaced the affected jalapeños after tracing linked the outbreak to peppers grown in Sinaloa, Mexico, and sold by Coast Citrus Distributors. Qdoba said it had proactively removed jalapeños from all restaurants.
Neither restaurant is considered an ongoing risk, the CDC said. The distributor is recalling the affected peppers, and other businesses are being urged to check their stocks for recalled jalapeños and not sell or serve them, it said.
Salmonella bacteria, the most frequently reported cause of foodborne illness, can cause diarrhea, vomiting, fever and stomach pain.
The investigation comes as a cyclosporiasis outbreak, traced to shredded iceberg lettuce from central Mexico, has spread to 15 states.
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