Qdoba pulls jalapeños as salmonella outbreak spreads

Qdoba has removed jalapeños from all of its restaurants as federal health officials investigate a salmonella outbreak linked to peppers grown in Mexico and served at several restaurant chains, including Qdoba and Chipotle.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 345 people in 27 states have been sickened by the strain of Salmonella Javiana tied to the jalapeños. Thirty-six people have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.

The peppers were grown in Sinaloa, Mexico, and distributed by California-based Coast Citrus Distributors to wholesalers and restaurants, the CDC said. The company has agreed to recall the remaining product implicated in the outbreak, according to federal officials.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we have proactively removed jalapeños from all our restaurants at this time,” San Diego-based Qdoba said in a statement Wednesday. “We take any report involving guest health seriously and are committed to responding appropriately based on the facts and guidance from public health authorities.”

Chipotle said Tuesday that it had pulled jalapeños linked to the outbreak and replaced them with product from another grower. The CDC said there is no ongoing risk at Chipotle or Qdoba because the peppers have been removed from their menus.

Minnesota and Colorado have reported the largest number of illnesses, with at least 110 cases in each state. Illinois has reported 30 cases and Kansas 13. Other cases have been reported in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. CBS News also listed Montana and Alabama among the affected states and reported cases in 27 states overall, consistent with the CDC figures.

Minnesota health officials said most sick people in the state reported eating at Chipotle between June 14 and July 14. Of 84 Minnesotans interviewed as part of the investigation, 75 said they had eaten at Chipotle, the Minnesota Department of Health said. Most ate there between June 24 and July 2. Carlota Medus, a senior epidemiologist supervisor in the state health department’s Foodborne Disease Unit, told NBC News that the remaining sick people reported eating at a variety of other Mexican-style restaurants.

The Food and Drug Administration is working to determine whether the jalapeños were also distributed to grocery stores, the CDC said. The agency urged consumers to check with the place of purchase to confirm the source of any jalapeño peppers. NBC News reported that the FDA said it began investigating “multiple ingredients” tied to the outbreak on July 22 but had not named any restaurants or suppliers.

Salmonella infection can cause diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps. Symptoms typically begin within eight to 72 hours after exposure, according to the Mayo Clinic, and most healthy people recover within days to a week without treatment.

The jalapeño investigation comes as more than a dozen states are also seeing cases from another foodborne illness, cyclosporiasis, NBC News reported. That outbreak has been traced to lettuce served at Taco Bell that was supplied by Taylor Farms and sourced from central Mexico. The CDC has reported more than 22,000 confirmed or suspected illnesses and 517 hospitalizations in that outbreak.

Byron Chaves, a food safety expert at Rutgers University, told NBC News the two outbreaks are “coincidental” and most likely reflect increased testing. He also said the CDC’s response to the salmonella outbreak was “delayed,” noting that Minnesota began reporting salmonella cases earlier in the summer. “Why is the response so broken?” he asked.