Salmonella Alert For Tomatoes-Jalapenos-Cilantro-What are the Symptoms
July 9, 2008
Salmonella symptoms are fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps starting 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness tends to last four to seven days.
Many people recover without treatment. However, severe infection and even death is possible. Infants, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems like Lupus, are at greatest risk for severe infections.
The total of reported Salmonella poisoning, has now reached well over 1,000 people.
Salmonella was initially linked to raw tomatoes. This the worst food borne outbreak in at least a decade. Adding to the confusion, the FDA and CDC are warning certain people to avoid types of hot peppers, too.
Certain raw tomatoes, red round, plum and Roma, remain a chief suspect and the FDA still states that consumers should avoid them unless they were harvested in areas cleared of suspicion.
But people at highest risk of severe illness from salmonella also should not eat raw jalapenos and serrano peppers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The most vulnerable are the elderly, people with weak immune systems and infants.
Remember, the symptoms that most infected people suffer are fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps starting 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness tends to last four to seven days. get help immediately.
Raw jalapenos have caused some of the illnesses, conclude CDC investigations. There were two groups of sick people who ate at the same restaurant or catered event, that became ill.
But jalapenos can not be the sole culprit, because many of the ill insist they didn’t eat hot peppers or foods like salsa that contain them. There fore the CDC have reported not to eat serrano peppers, because they are so hard for consumers to tell apart. I bet that makes the serrano peeper growers happy campers! NOT! So if you know the difference between a jalapeno and a serrano…and look at the pepper for freshness, you could be in the safety zone for eating serreno peppers. But bottom line it is your decision!
Also still being investigated is fresh cilantro, because a significant number of people who got sick most recently say they ate all three, raw tomatoes, jalapenos and cilantro. Sounds like “salsa salmonella,” to me.
To me it sounds as though FDA and CDC still have not figured out what is causing the illness.
The outbreak isn’t over, or even showing any sign of slowing, with about 25 to 40 cases being a reported a day for weeks now, to a total of 1,017 known since the outbreak began on April 10.
Illnesses now have been reported in 41 states and even four cases in Canada, although three of those people are believed to have been infected while traveling in the U.S. and the fourth is still being probed. I hope they mean the investigation and not the Canadian!
Here is the toll so far Baby Boomers…remember we are a large majority of those who could be endangered. At least 300 people became ill in June, with the latest falling sick on June 26. Two deaths are associated with the outbreak, a Texas man in his 80s, and another Texas man who died of cancer but for whom salmonella may have played a role and 203 people have been hospitalized.
The toll far surpasses what had been considered the largest food borne outbreak of the past decade. 715 salmonella cases linked to peanut butter in 2006. And in the mid~1990s, there were well over 1,000 cases of cyclospora linked to raspberries, and previous large outbreaks of salmonella from ice cream and milk.
I don’t know about you, Baby Boomers but my stomach is starting to feel bad just thinking about it.
By the way, I had tomatoes for lunch and dinner and jalapenos for lunch as well.
Imagine…for every case of salmonella confirmed to the government, there may be 30 to 40 others that go undiagnosed or unreported. “The outbreak could actually be tens of thousands of people rather than 1,000 people.”
~The Baby Boomer Queen~
While I am thinking about it here is a food recall.
Smoked Salmon: Nebraska Beef Ltd. has recalled 5.3 million pounds
Here are some more Salmonella Alerts from The Baby Boomer Queen
http://babyboomeradvisorclub.com/salmonella-tomatoe-alert/
http://babyboomeradvisorclub.com/salmonella-tomato-alert-update/
http://babyboomeradvisorclub.com/salmonella-tomatoes-update-by-center-for-disease-control/
http://babyboomeradvisorclub.com/salmonella-tomato-alert-update-mcdonalds-says-no/
http://babyboomeradvisorclub.com/salmonella-tomato-alert-hits-kfc-and-taco-bell/
http://babyboomeradvisorclub.com/salmonella-tomato-alert-and-symptoms/
http://babyboomeradvisorclub.com/salmonella-tomato-alert-fda-to-identify-tomates/
http://babyboomeradvisorclub.com/salmonella-tomato-update-for-thursday/
http://babyboomeradvisorclub.com/salmonella-alert-mcdonalds-tomato-friendly-again/
http://babyboomeradvisorclub.com/salmonella-alert-update-tomatoes-safe-you-tube/
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[...] Americans are strongly opposed to food irradiation, the FDA is more than happy to drag out this salmonella issue as a way to make American consumers increasingly afraid of fresh [...]