(July 18, 2008)—A produce supplier in the Rio Grande Valley is voluntarily recalling fresh jalapeno peppers, Serrano peppers and avocados after tests found the presence of salmonella in some samples.

The Texas Department of State Health Services said in a statement Thursday that the salmonella strain found in Serrano peppers and jalapeno peppers distributed by Hildalgo-based Grande
Produce is not the strain responsible for the nationwide salmonella outbreak.

The Health Department said the company is contacting its clients to have them pull the products from their shelves.

Some of the recalled produce was distributed in North Carolina.

DSHS and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are working to determine where the produce was shipped and how the recalled produce was contaminated.

The recall came on the same day the FDA declared it's OK to eat tomatoes again, lifting its salmonella warning amid signs that the outbreak while not over may finally be slowing.

Officials reiterated earlier warnings that the people most at risk of salmonella should avoid jajapeno and Serrano peppers.

The government still doesn't know just what caused the salmonella outbreak, and the move doesn't mean tomatoes are cleared, but among later cases of the illness, there seems to be more evidence that peppers are the source.

The FDA is sending inspectors to Mexico to investigate a packing house that receives peppers from a number of farms.

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