Jalapeno Protection: A Cheap and Easy Food Safety Tip

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Sleuthing into the dangerous salmonella outbreak may be leading regulators closer to an answer.

On July 21 the government announced a strain of the bacteria salmonella Saintpaul, found on fresh Mexican jalapenos, is a genetic match to the strain found in lab tests from many of the 1,251 people who contracted salmonella poisoning over the past three months, the New York Times [NYT] reports.  The Food and Drug Administration’s Dr. David Acheson told reporters that the salmonella contamination could have occurred anywhere in between the Mexico, where the peppers were grown, and a Texas distribution center, the paper says.  (The salmonella outbreak was first attributed to tomatoes, although the Times reports that on July 17, the government lifted its six-week warning about certain tomatoes.)  The Agricola Zaragoza, which distributed the jalapenos, has instituted a recall.

Even if you avoid spicy foods and you’re unaffected by the jalapeno recall, surely the food safety questions in your mind are making your stomach uneasy.  Fortunately, there is a simple food safety protection measure that is not at all costly!

Dr. Douglas Powell, associate professor of food safety at Kansas State University who also writes the International Food Safety Network’s Barf Blog, recommends you invest in soap.

USE SOAP
Washing your hands whenever handling food and washing your produce before preparation are two actions of the utmost importance, Powell says.  Did you know your soap does not need to be ‘antibacterial’ to kill bacteria?  Powell says any kind of soap will work just fine. 

Does this mean the jalapenos that got people sick were unwashed?  Investigators don’t know yet, says Powell, adding that perhaps the salmonella outbreak happened because the jalapenos were washed in bacteria-tainted water. Therefore, making sure your water source is not tainted is important, too.  (You’ll have to leave it to the growers to ensure your produce is not tainted on the farm.)

But as the salmonella outbreak is teaching us, vigilance on the hygiene front alone isn’t enough to keep us from getting sick.  Bacteria can get inside leafy greens (which it absorbs while growing), so contamination must be prevented on the farm, Powell says. “Food safety begins on the farm and goes all the way through the system. Basically, you follow the poop.” 

Whether your produce comes from a large farm or a small farm, a greenmarket or a grocery store, does not matter.  “A lot of people think if they buy local, it’s safe,” says Powell. “That’s not true.” He says you must ask your local farmer or your grocery store clerk what their water source is, how often it is checked, and how often employees wash their hands. Get as much information as you can about what’s in the soil and water your produce is grown in and what might be on the hands of the people handling what you eat.