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The Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Jalapeños Has Spread to 27 States — Here’s What Food Safety Experts Say

The recalled peppers have been linked to 345 illnesses and 36 hospitalizations, prompting Chipotle and Qdoba to remove the ingredient from affected restaurants.

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Korin Miller

Korin Miller

Korin Miller has spent nearly two decades covering food, health, and nutrition for digital, print, and TV platforms. Her work has appeared in Women's Health, SELF, Prevention, The Washington Post, and more.

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Published on August 6, 2026

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• A Salmonella Javiana outbreak tied to jalapeño peppers has sickened 345 people across 27 states and led to 36 hospitalizations. Coast Citrus Distributors has recalled fresh jalapeños from Sinaloa, Mexico, in connection with the outbreak, and Chipotle and Qdoba have removed the affected peppers from their restaurants.
• Jalapeños can become contaminated with Salmonella during growing, harvesting, packing, or distribution, and because they’re often eaten raw or lightly cooked, the bacteria may survive until consumption.
• Anyone who has recalled jalapeños should throw them away, and people who become sick after recently eating at a Mexican-style restaurant should seek medical care.

A Salmonella Javiana outbreak tied to jalapeño peppers, first detected in Minnesota, has expanded to 27 states. Coast Citrus Distributors is recalling fresh jalapeños from Sinaloa, Mexico, in connection with the outbreak, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The jalapeños, which have sickened 345 people so far and led to 36 hospitalizations, were distributed to wholesalers and restaurants nationwide.

Chipotle and Qdoba restaurants have removed the affected jalapeños from their menus following the outbreak. “We have a robust ingredient traceability system and, upon learning of a potential Salmonella outbreak in the supply chain impacting wholesalers and restaurants, we identified jalapeños from a particular grower in Sinaloa, Mexico, and distributed by Coast Citrus Distributors, as a common ingredient from a common lot, proactively removed them from the restaurants where they had been distributed and replaced them with product from different growers,” Chipotle said in a statement released Wednesday. The statement stressed that the recalled jalapeños are “no longer in Chipotle restaurants.”

Qdoba also released a statement on Wednesday, saying the affected jalapeños have been “proactively removed” from the chain’s restaurants.

Salmonella isn’t a bacterium people commonly associate with jalapeño peppers, raising questions about how this produce can become contaminated. Food safety experts explain the link — and why there’s more history to this than many people realize.

What’s the latest with the outbreak?

Cases of Salmonella infection linked to the outbreak were first reported in Minnesota, which has had the highest number of cases in the country, along with Colorado. (Both have reported 110 cases, per data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC).) These are the affected states, per the FDA:

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Georgia
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Virgina
• Washington
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

A CDC timeline traces cases back to June 19, with more cases emerging as the summer progressed. While Chipotle and Qdoba restaurants have removed jalapeños from their menus, the FDA’s recall notice points out that the produce was sent to “distributors, restaurants, and food service companies, including Mexican-style restaurants in the U.S.,” suggesting that they may have reached stores and other restaurants as well.

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Of the 191 people interviewed, 177 (93%) reported eating at a Mexican-style restaurant before their illness, including — but not limited to — Chipotle Mexican Grill and Qdoba, according to the FDA. Because Chipotle has switched suppliers and Qdoba has stopped using jalapeños in its restaurants, “FDA does not consider there to be a current ongoing risk from these establishments to consumers in this outbreak,” the agency said in the recall notice.

How does Salmonella end up in jalapeños?

Salmonella outbreaks are often linked to chicken and eggs, but the bacteria has also surfaced in jalapeños, according to food safety expert Darin Detwiler, author of Food Safety: Past, Present, and Predictions and a professor at Northeastern University.

“Jalapeños have a longer history with Salmonella than many consumers realize,” Detwiler says. He points out that a 2008 nationwide Salmonella outbreak was initially suspected to be caused by tomatoes before illnesses were traced to jalapeño and serrano peppers. “Since then, we’ve continued to see recalls involving fresh and processed jalapeños,” Detwiler says.

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Salmonella doesn’t start in the pepper, but it can enter the pepper as the production process continues, according to Detwiler. “Contaminated irrigation water, improperly treated manure, animal intrusion into fields, and poor sanitation during harvesting, packing, or distribution can all introduce the bacteria,” he says. “Once Salmonella is on a pepper, simply rinsing it under the tap isn’t enough to guarantee safety.”

While Salmonella can be killed by heat, that’s often not helpful for jalapeños, according to Wade Syers, DSocSci, an extension specialist in food safety at Michigan State University Extension. “Because peppers are often eaten raw or only lightly cooked, bacteria present on the product may survive until consumption,” Syers says.

Why is Salmonella concerning?

Salmonella is one of the leading causes of foodborne illness in the U.S. The pathogen sickens about 1.28 million people each year, resulting in 12,500 hospitalizations and 238 deaths, according to CDC data.Symptoms of a Salmonella infection, known as salmonellosis, can begin anywhere from six hours to six days after infection. According to the CDC, the most common symptoms are watery diarrhea that may contain blood or mucus, along with stomach cramps, and can last for a week. While less common, some people with a Salmonella infection can develop severe illness, such as blood and brain infections.

What to do if you enjoy jalapeños, according to food safety experts

Detwiler says this outbreak is “especially frustrating,” given that traceability can be difficult. “Many jalapeños are sold loose, without labels or packaging, so consumers often have no practical way of knowing where they came from,” he says. “That leaves people trying to make food safety decisions without the information they need.”

Pathogens like Salmonella can’t be seen, smelled, or tasted, which also makes detecting its presence difficult, Syers says.

The FDA is asking distributors, restaurants, and food service companies that received recalled fresh jalapeños from Coast Citrus Distributors, which were imported from Sinaloa, Mexico, to stop using the peppers and to carefully clean and sanitize any surfaces or containers that the produce touched.

If you recently ate at a Mexican-style restaurant and became ill, the FDA recommends that you seek medical care.

If you know that your jalapeños are part of the recall, Detwiler says it’s best to throw them out. “If you bought loose peppers and can’t determine where they came from — and they’re consistent with the timeframe of the outbreak — the safest choice is to throw them away,” he says. “That’s particularly important for our most vulnerable consumers — young children, older adults, pregnant individuals, and anyone with a weakened immune system.”

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