Jalapeños are the latest vegetable to be blamed for salmonella outbreaks which have caused more than 1,000 people nationwide to become ill.

New Mexico Independent reporter Barbara Armijo noted last week that tomatoes may not have been the culprit.

Today the Center for Disease Control announced an investigation into jalapeños.

CDC is collaborating with public health officials in many states, the Indian Health Service, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate an ongoing multi-state outbreak of human Salmonella serotype Saintpaul infections. An initial epidemiologic investigation in New Mexico and Texas comparing foods eaten by persons who were ill in May to foods eaten by well persons identified consumption of raw tomatoes as strongly linked to illness. A similar but much larger, nationwide study comparing persons who were ill in June to well persons found that ill persons were more likely to have recently consumed raw tomatoes, fresh jalapeño peppers, and fresh cilantro.

New Mexico authorities also urged caution (pdf) among New Mexicans who eat the vegetable.

The New Mexico Department of Health today urged New Mexicans to follow new advice from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration to refrain from eating raw jalapeños and serrano peppers while continuing to stick only to those tomatoes on the FDA’s safe list.

“We know this has been a long, complicated investigation, and we encourage people to continue to follow advice about what is safe to eat,” said Health Secretary Dr. Alfredo Vigil in a press release.

“Investigators are working hard to get to the bottom of this outbreak and prevent new cases.”

As of 4:45 pm this afternoon, the state Department of Health is investigating "103 cases of Salmonella Saintpaul in 19 counties of New Mexico."

The Washington Post reported the effects in the food industry were almost immediate.

The impact of the jalapeño warning rippled through the food industry yesterday. "We are going to put a hold on our raw jalapeño inventory," said Mark Palmer, spokesman for Sysco, the largest food distributor in North America.

There is no panic in the streets of New Mexico yet, but if New Mexico officials try to tell New Mexicans not to eat green chile in August when the crop comes to harvest… things could turn ugly.