CDC Warns that Salsa and Guacamole are Big Agents of Food Poisoning
New research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) should put restaurants on notice to be extra careful in preparing and serving salsa and guacamole to avoid food poisoning.
From 1984 to 2008, restaurants and delis were the settings for 84 percent of the 136 salsa or guacamole-associated (SGA) outbreaks of foodborne disease recorded by CDC.
According to the research, salsa and guacamole-associated outbreaks accounted for 1.5 percent of all food establishment outbreaks from 1984 to 1997. This figure more than doubled to 3.9 percent during the ten-year period from 1998 to 2008.
Magdalena Kendall of Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education collaborated on the CDC study. She told scientists at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases that salsa and guacamole often contain diced raw produce including hot peppers, tomatoes and cilantro, each of which has been implicated in past outbreaks.
In addition, unsafe storage times or temperatures were reported in 30 percent of the SGA outbreaks in restaurants or delis. Food workers were reported as the source of contamination in 20 percent of the restaurant outbreaks.
Said Kendall: "Awareness that salsa and guacamole can transmit foodborne illness, particularly in restaurants, is key to preventing future outbreaks."
If you or a loved one has been sickened at a restaurant with foodborne illness, see a physician immediately and request that a stool culture be taken. For answers to legal questions, call law firm Pritzker Olsen at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or use the contact form on the side of this Web page to reach us online.
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