Posted on 07/10/2008 10:50:29 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch
Want pico de gallo on your fajita taco?
You just might have to settle for chopped onion.
Jalapeño and serrano chiles, as well as cilantro, have been implicated in the multistate outbreak of salmonella infections. They join the list that began with tomatoes — and all are ingredients in the enormously popular Tex-Mex relish, pico de gallo.
San Antonio’s hundreds of Tex-Mex restaurateurs are faced with some important decisions this week.
Blanca Aldaco, owner of two local Aldaco restaurants, said she’s not serving pico de gallo at this time.
“We’re only using our cooked salsa,” she said.
Tomatoes, connected with the outbreak that began in April, now can be used from specific areas cleared by the Food and Drug Administration. (Find a complete list at www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/tomatoes.html.)
Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 1,017 people had been infected in 41 states by the Salmonella Saintpaul strain, making this one of the worst outbreaks in years.
This number includes 384 reported illnesses in Texas. Also, in Texas, one elderly man’s death was associated with the illness, while another death of a man also in his 80s, who died of cancer, had a salmonella infection when he died. This may have contributed to his death, the x CDC reported.
Thus far, no single food has been declared the main culprit.
“The accumulated data from all investigations indicate that jalapeño peppers caused some illnesses but that they do not explain all illnesses,” the Atlanta-based CDC said. “Raw tomatoes, fresh serrano peppers, and fresh cilantro also remain under investigation.”
Meanwhile, the CDC issued this familiar-sounding directive: “Persons with increased risk of severe infection, including infants, elderly persons and those with impaired immune systems, should not eat raw jalapeño peppers or raw serrano peppers. They should also only eat tomatoes that are on the FDA safe list.”
Thorough cooking of any of these foods to a temperature of 145 degrees for at least 15 seconds kills the salmonella, according to the CDC.
At Picante Grill at 3810 Broadway, chef-owner Flora Maria Pozo has taken some creative action.
“I’m not serving my same pico de gallo,” said Pozo. “I’m making another one. I cut up some fresh tomatillo (not related to tomato) along with purple and yellow onion, cut up red pepper, and add lime juice and salt.
“It looks really good. The customers haven’t made any bad comments. People understand. If they don’t know why we’re serving this we explain. Then they say, ‘Well, this is good,’.” Pozo said.
David Cortez, president of the family-owned company that operates Mi Tierra, La Margarita and Pico de Gallo restaurants, said that as of Wednesday afternoon, the establishments still were serving pico de gallo.
“Our customers were concerned about the tomatoes,” he said. The restaurants removed raw tomatoes from dishes until their suppliers could assure them they came from safe sources.
Most of the Cortez restaurants serve jalapeños in cooked dishes, Cortez said. Also, customers haven’t expressed as much concern, as of yet, about the chiles.
“I haven’t had one customer ask me about tomatoes or anything,” said Roland Treviño of Los Barrios and La Hacienda de los Barrios.
Aldaco’s customers have understood the precautions she’s taken. “One customer complained about the ‘grayness’ of his plate. He said he knew about the health concerns, but asked us to ‘Just bring me some tomatoes,’/” she said.
The following is advice from the CDC:
Refrigerate within 2 hours or discard cut, peeled, or cooked produce items, including tomatoes and peppers.
Avoid purchasing bruised or damaged tomatoes, peppers, and other produce items, and discard any that appear spoiled.
Thoroughly wash all tomatoes, peppers and other produce items under running water.
Keep produce items that will be consumed raw separate from raw meats, raw seafood, and raw produce items.
Wash cutting boards, dishes, utensils, and countertops with hot water and soap. Bloomberg News and Dining
Editor John Griffin contributed to this report.
It aint a groundwater contamination issue and it aint any one fruit or vegetable.
But I sure feel safer knowing the FDA is on the case! /s
My Italian friend Salvatore Monella is opening a restaurant. He wanted to call it “Sal Monella’s”...I told him it wasn’t such a good idea.
How about - grow your own. My little plants (in containers due to light/soil issues) will soon be giving me all the ‘matos and peppers I can eat!!
Seems to me that the best way to find the source would be to ban all produce from Mexico so they could then focus on local stuff.
I still won’t eat any that isn’t home/locally grown.
While I realize it is a wild and frivolous idea, may the FDA should determine the source of the problem BEFORE they start scaring everyone and pointing to a wide array of possible, yet unproven, sources of the problem.
More junk science, like the Religion of Global Warming?
Gardener interest.
Seems to me that the best way to find the source would be to ban all produce from Mexico so they could then focus on local stuff.
I still won’t eat any that isn’t home/locally grown.
PSA ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
btw.....in desparation, I made "fresh" salsa with a can of petite diced tomatoes, and some jalopenos from the freezer among other things.....turned out very well....
Reminds me of an old Frank and Earnest cartoon:
Frank is looking up a neon sign outside at the top of a restaurant. He says to a lady, “I don’t think that is such a good idea for a seafood restaurant, Ella.”
The name?
SALMON ELLA’S
Thank a Free Trader for all this veggie mess
Instead of importing from Mexico or some other Third World hellhole....grow it here in America, sell it in America
Because we have a President who likes Mexico more than the US...we are never gonna get the straight story on this. They rather kill the Florida tomato industry than give bad pub to their failed wealth-redistribution scheme called NAFTA
Hint: Wash the vegetables (as well as you hands) before preparing and serving.
This is not something that is IN the tomato but ON the tomato. Come on guys, let's get with it. You don't know what has been “done “ in the field or if the workers washed their hands. Wash everything before you eat or cut it. Common sense, not rocket science
Are we sure of that?? Can't it be internal?
BTW.. I've seen weak bleach vegetable rinses on the internet that might be a good idea.
Never tried them though. I don't know whether you could get rid of the bleach odor. And that would kill it for me.
ping
Oh, I forgot the spinach, peanut butter and lettuce recalls were because they were imported products, right?
It’s just more hysteria.
What makes this case different is that the CDC is supposedly counting only the one particular strain of Salmonella toward the ‘outbreak,’ this led me to believe soon after the harvest period was over for the early crop of raw tomatoes that the problem was far more likely to occur in a collection and distribution faciity than at harvest itself.
While the CDC does seem to be hinting at this possibity, especially in light of the implication of certain peppers, they have yet to home in on any such plant.
I think we’re getting close to some statement from them soon that will have to address this.
“Thoroughly wash all tomatoes, peppers and other produce items under running water. “
Not good enough. During the years that we lived in the Middle East we were told to soak the vegetables in water with a shot glass of Clorox in it — instant death of all microorganisms. Remove the vegetables from the water, let stand for ten minutes and there is not a trace of chlorine odor or taste left.
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