Health Law

CDC update on Salmonella Salami/Pepper outbreak

By Drew Falkenstein

The CDC now counts 217 confirmed cases in the Salmonella montevideo outbreak linked to contaminated salami and pepper. 

As of 9:00 pm EST on February 8, 2010, a total of 217 individuals infected with a matching strain of Salmonella Montevideo have been reported from 44 states and District of Columbia since July 1, 2009. The number of ill persons identified in each state with this strain is as follows: AK (1), AL (2), AZ (5), CA (30), CO (4), CT (5), DC (1), DE (2), FL (3), GA (3), IA (1), ID (2), IL (14), IN (3), KS (3), LA (1), MA (12), MD (1), ME (1), MI (4), MN (5), MO (1), MS (1), NC (9), ND (1), NE (1), NH (1), NJ (8), NM (2), NY (18), OH (9), OK (1), OR (9), PA (6), RI (2), SC (1), SD (3), TN (5), TX (7), UT (9), VA (1), WA (15), WI (1), WV (1), and WY (2).

This outbreak was originally announced back on January 23, which is also the day that Daniele Inc recalled 1,240,000 pounds of salami products potentially contaminated by Salmonella.  Daniele later expanded the recall by over 17,000 pounds.  The products were distributed nationally and sold at many retail grocery outlets. 

Outbreak summary:  the 217--a number that will likely continue to grow--confirmed illnesses that the CDC has linked to the outbreak have occurred in 44 different states.  The Daniele Inc recalled salami product was contaminated with multiple strains of Salmonella, including montevideo.  There has been no official announcement of the other strains of salmonella involved in the outbreak.  We also know that the actual outbreak vehicle was the black pepper that was used to coat the recalled salami products.  Daniele purchased the contaminated pepper from two companies, Wholesome Spice and Overseas Spice Company.  Samples from unopened containers of pepper from both companies have tested positive for Salmonella. 

Full post as published by Food Poison Blog on February 10, 2010 (boomark / email).