Food Poisonings From Salsa, Guacamole Jump

ATLANTA, Ga. -- New research might have restaurant goers skipping the spicy salsa and cool guacamole.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 1 out of every 25 restaurant-associated foodborne outbreaks with identified food sources between 1998 and 2008 can be traced back to contaminated salsa or guacamole. That's a jump of more than double the rate during the previous decade.

Researchers gave a report at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases, saying the raw ingredients are the likely culprit.

"Fresh salsa and guacamole, especially those served in retail food establishments, may be important vehicles of foodborne infection," says Magdalena Kendall, an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) researcher who collaborated on the CDC study. "Salsa and guacamole often contain diced raw produce including hot peppers, tomatoes and cilantro, each of which has been implicated in past outbreaks."

Researchers looked at CDC data on foodborne disease outbreaks going back to 1973 looking for salsa- or guacamole-associated (SGA) outbreaks. SGA outbreaks accounted for 1.5 percent of all food establishment outbreaks from 1984 to 1997. The figure more than doubled to 3.9 percent during the 10-year period from 1998 to 2008.

Restaurants and delis, researchers said, were the settings for 84 percent of the 136 SGA outbreaks.

Inappropriate storage times or temperatures were reported in 30 percent of the outbreaks in restaurants or delis and may have contributed to the outbreaks. Food workers were reported as the source of contamination in 20 percent of the restaurant outbreaks.

"Possible reasons salsa and guacamole can pose a risk for foodborne illness is that they may not be refrigerated appropriately and are often made in large batches so even a small amount of contamination can affect many customers," Kendall says. "Awareness that salsa and guacamole can transmit foodborne illness, particularly in restaurants, is key to preventing future outbreaks."

Researchers said that routine food safety guidelines could help bring the rate of SGA illnesses down.

"We want restaurants and anyone preparing fresh salsa and guacamole at home to be aware that these foods containing raw ingredients should be carefully prepared and refrigerated to help prevent illness," says Kendall.