OK To Eat Peppers From Mexico Again. However,

The U.S. government reported that it appears that the recent salmonella outbreak appears to be over for several reasons. It also said that the ultimate source of the outbreak that sickened 1,440 people (the largest outbreak of food-borne illness in a decade) may never be known for certain.

The reasons the government is saying it is "over" are: the number of cases of illness peaked back in May and June, the number of new cases has now dropped to "normal" levels and there have been no new "restaurant clusters of cases" since early July.

Tomatoes were never officially cleared as the source (both domestic and imported), but the strongest evidence pointed to fresh jalapeno and serrano peppers and a farm in Mexico. Based on data available the government has lifted the warning on the peppers, but they are warning that this lifting of the warning does not mean that another outbreak can't or won't occur.

David Acheson, FDA food-safety chief, said, "None of us can provide a cast-iron guarantee that salmonella Saintpaul will not re-emerge." The most important thing for all of us to remember at this point is to throughly wash all fresh peppers before using or consuming them, and listen for more possible outbreak warnings.

The latest outbreak sickened people in 43 states in the U.S. and in Washington D.C. Texas was the hardest hit state with 40% of all reported cases.