As of September 6, 2026, the multistate outbreak of Salmonella Javiana linked to fresh jalapeño peppers has sickened 431 people in 32 states. Fifty-seven have been hospitalized and no deaths have been reported. The peppers were grown in Sinaloa, Mexico and imported by Coast Citrus Distributors, LLC of San Diego. Both CDC and FDA still list the investigation as open, and neither agency has updated its page since August 21. Every recalled product has passed its date, so the useful step now is not a refrigerator sweep but a stool culture, if you got sick this summer and were never tested.
The case count
CDC reports 431 confirmed illnesses in AL, AR, CA, CO, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NC, ND, NE, NJ, NM, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI, WV and WY. Illnesses began between June 19 and August 2, 2026. Patients range in age from under one to 85, with a median age of 30. Fifty-seven of the 376 people with hospitalization information available were admitted, or fifteen percent.
Of 224 people interviewed, 203 — 91 percent — said they had eaten at a Mexican-style restaurant before getting sick, with meal dates running from June 14 to July 16. Investigators identified 28 illness clusters at Chipotle Mexican Grill and QDOBA locations in eight states, according to CDC’s investigation page. The ingredients reported most often in those clusters were jalapeño peppers, red onion, cilantro and avocado.
CDC also says the true number of sick people is likely much higher, because most people with a Salmonellainfection recover at home and are never tested.
The restaurants are not the current risk
Chipotle switched jalapeño suppliers for affected stores beginning July 20, 2026. QDOBA stopped using jalapeños on July 28. FDA and CDC both say that, given those actions, there is no ongoing risk to consumers from those restaurants. The last illness in this outbreak began on August 2, after both chains acted. Neither agency has published what the interviews with those late patients showed.
What was recalled
FDA now maintains a Major Product Recalls page for this outbreak. It lists five downstream recalls by companies that used or repackaged the peppers: NatureBest Precut & Produce (August 8), Taylor Fresh Foods(August 9), Salata Dressings (August 11), Whole Foods Market (August 12), and Dairyland Produce, doing business as Hardie’s Fresh Foods (August 12). USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a separate public health alert for meat and poultry products made with the same peppers.
Those products carried Best If Used By dates up to August 16, 2026, so all of them are now expired. Several grocery chains also issued their own store-level notices that never appeared on the federal list, so a receipt and the store itself are better sources than FDA’s page.
FDA has now disclosed a July 22 recall
When FDA built that recalls page on August 20, it put a fact on the public record for the first time: on July 22, 2026, Coast Citrus initiated a limited recall of jalapeño peppers packaged in bulk generic Coast Tropical packaging. The public heard nothing about this outbreak until August 5, when FDA and CDC issued their advisories. Two weeks separate the first recall from the first public warning.
FDA fixed the grocery-store sentence
Through most of August, FDA’s advisory said Coast Citrus did not appear to supply jalapeños directly to grocery stores. During those same weeks the agency was publishing recalls of five-pound bags of jalapeños sold at two Texas Costco warehouses and of pico de gallo sold under the H-E-B label. That sentence is now gone. The advisory says the peppers went to distributors, wholesalers, manufacturers, restaurants and food service companies nationwide, and that some manufacturers used them in products that went to retail stores. That is the accurate description.
The grower still has no name
FDA’s traceback identified a common grower in Sinaloa, Mexico as the likely source, and FDA said in August that Coast Citrus is no longer importing from that grower. One month later, the farm has not been named publicly. The agency knows who it is. Buyers, importers and the next set of customers do not.
Salmonella symptoms, and when to call a doctor
CDC says Salmonella symptoms usually begin 6 hours to 6 days after swallowing the bacteria: diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps, with most people recovering in four to seven days. FDA’s advisory gives a narrower window of 12 to 72 hours. Children under five, adults 65 and older, and people with weakened immune systems are the most likely to become severely ill.
CDC says to call a health care provider right away for a fever higher than 102 °F with diarrhea, diarrhea lasting more than two days without improvement, bloody diarrhea, vomiting so severe you cannot keep liquids down, or signs of dehydration.
Ask for a stool culture. A laboratory-confirmed result is what allows public health investigators to connect your illness to an outbreak, and an illness that is never tested is never counted.
Questions we are hearing
Are jalapeños safe to eat now? The recalled peppers are long past their dates and Coast Citrus stopped importing from the implicated grower in early August. Jalapeños on the shelf today are not part of this recall.
I got sick in July but was never tested. Is it too late? A stool culture only works while you are still shedding the bacteria, so a test now may come back negative. Medical records, receipts and restaurant dates still matter. Talk to your doctor, and keep what you have.
Why is the importer the company being sued? The grower is in Mexico and has not been named. Coast Citrus is the U.S. importer of record and the company federal investigators identified as the distributor of the implicated peppers. The first lawsuit in this outbreak named Coast Citrus and no one else.
Our coverage
Bill Marler’s fuller write-up of the outbreak, including the state-by-state table and the daily epidemic curve, is here. Marler Clark filed the first lawsuit in this outbreak on August 14, 2026 in the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, and represents people sickened by these peppers.
Salmonella
Salmonella sickens more than a million Americans every year and is the leading cause of hospitalizations and deaths among foodborne bacteria. Its reach is remarkable — it turns up in produce, poultry, pantry staples, and pet food alike. Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, is the nation’s leading firm representing victims of Salmonella outbreaks. Our Salmonella lawyers have represented thousands of victims in the only U.S. law practice devoted exclusively to foodborne illness, which has recovered more than $850 million for victims and families nationwide. We have tied Salmonella outbreaks to cantaloupe, tomatoes, ground turkey, salami, sprouts, cereal, peanut butter, fresh peppers, and restaurant meals, and we have brought cases against Cargill, ConAgra, Peanut Corporation of America, Sheetz, Taco Bell, Subway, and Wal-Mart. The Peanut Corporation of America outbreak ended in federal criminal convictions, with the company’s owner sentenced to twenty-eight years in prison. We are also pressing the federal government to treat Salmonella as an adulterant on raw chicken, so that contaminated poultry can be kept off store shelves the way dangerous E. coli already is.
If you or a family member became ill with a Salmonella infection — including lasting complications such as reactive arthritis or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) — after eating contaminated food, contact the Marler Clark Salmonella attorneys for a free case evaluation.
FAQ
What is Salmonella? Salmonella is a group of bacteria behind one of the most common — and most deadly — foodborne infections in the United States, sickening more than a million people a year. Symptoms usually begin between 6 hours and 6 days after eating contaminated food and include diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps that last four to seven days.
What foods cause Salmonella outbreaks? Poultry, eggs, ground beef, produce, peanut butter, flour, and even pet food have all caused outbreaks. Salmonella can survive for months in dry, low-moisture foods.
Can a Salmonella infection cause long-term problems? Yes. Some victims develop reactive arthritis — joint pain and swelling that can persist for months — or irritable bowel syndrome after the initial illness resolves.
Who is most at risk? Young children, adults over 65, and people with weakened immune systems are the most likely to be hospitalized or to suffer severe, invasive infection.
Can I sue for a Salmonella infection? If your illness is linked to a contaminated product or a recognized outbreak, you may have a claim against those in the chain of distribution. A stool culture matching the outbreak strain is powerful evidence.
Additional Resources
- About Salmonella — a complete resource for victims of Salmonella outbreaks
- Marler Clark Salmonella Lawsuits and Litigation
- Downloadable Salmonella Fact Sheet