Wyoming is among 27 states reporting illnesses from a recent salmonella outbreak linked to imported jalapeño peppers.
While federal health officials say there is no ongoing risk to customers who eat at Chipotle or QDOBA chain Mexican restaurants, a Wyoming health official says the outbreaks are a reminder of the tradeoffs that come with the modern food system.
"I think it is part of the cost of doing business for our industrialized society," Park County Health Officer Aaron Billin told Cowboy State Daily. "We get our foods in bulk.
"One hundred years ago, people had small farms, grew a little bit of everything, but now people specialize just in jalapeños and sell on a massive scale. And if that food supply gets contaminated, that's a problem."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday that 345 people have been sickened by the outbreak strain of Salmonella Javiana. Thirty-six have been hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported.
The FDA's public case map places Wyoming in a category with five or six reported illnesses.
Chipotle and QDOBA have removed their affected products.
Although the last known illnesses began in July, the outbreak is only now drawing widespread attention after federal investigators completed weeks of patient interviews and supply-chain tracing that identified a common grower in Sinaloa, Mexico, as the likely source.
The salmonella outbreak comes as Wyoming continues to monitor another foodborne illness investigation.
Last month, Cowboy State Daily reported six confirmed Wyoming cases of Cyclospora, a microscopic parasite that causes prolonged watery diarrhea, stomach cramps and fatigue.
State health officials said five of those cases were associated with international travel while one remained under investigation.
Billin said foodborne outbreaks are an unfortunate reality of an interconnected food system.
"We trust that our food, either bought at the supermarket or bought at a restaurant, is safe," he said. "But we have these outbreaks every once in a while."
Tracing The Source
According to the FDA, 177 of 191 people interviewed — about 93% — reported eating at a Mexican-style restaurant before becoming sick. Those restaurants included Chipotle Mexican Grill and QDOBA.
Billin said outbreaks like this happen.
"Across the United States, we have probably half a dozen salmonella outbreaks every year," he said, noting previous outbreaks have been linked to eggs, backyard poultry, produce, pet reptiles and commercial food supplements.
While Wyoming has reported about six illnesses in the current outbreak, he said none are believed to have resulted in hospitalization.
Billin said contaminated produce can originate from several sources, including infected workers handling food after using the restroom, contaminated irrigation water or contaminated wash water used during processing.
"The more they wash it, the more contaminated it becomes," he said of the latter scenario.
Because produce today is grown and distributed on such a large scale, a single contamination event can quickly spread across the country, he added.
Restaurants Responded
After learning of the outbreak, Chipotle and QDOBA removed the affected jalapeño peppers from their restaurants.
Chipotle said its ingredient traceability system allowed it to quickly identify peppers from the affected grower and replace them with jalapeños from different suppliers.
"The health and safety of our guests and employees is our highest priority," the company said in a statement. "The recalled jalapeño peppers are no longer in Chipotle restaurants. Given these actions, the CDC and FDA have said they do not consider there to be a current ongoing risk from Chipotle restaurants in this outbreak."
The FDA said QDOBA also stopped serving the affected jalapeños July 28, and Coast Citrus Distributors has agreed to recall the remaining peppers linked to the outbreak.
Wyoming has two Chipotle restaurants — in Casper and Cheyenne — and seven QDOBA locations.
Multiple attempts to reach a manager at a Wyoming Chipotle on Thursday were unsuccessful. Calls were answered by an automated AI phone assistant that directed Cowboy State Daily to the company's website.
A Casper QDOBA employee also declined to comment.
"Unfortunately, I am not allowed to comment," the employee said. "I was told to tell anyone asking about that to go to our website."
One Diner's Experience
Although federal officials say the affected product has been removed from restaurants, one Montana woman said she became violently ill after eating at a Chipotle location this week.
Nicole Lubick of Butte, Montana, told Cowboy State Daily she ordered vegetable fajitas with fresh tomato salsa on Aug. 4.
"I went home and ate, and honestly it didn't taste right," Lubick said. "It seemed like there was a lot of fat or something on the meat. It just didn't seem that great or fresh. But stupid me, I kept eating it."
She said she woke around 2 a.m. sweating before becoming violently ill.
"I went to the bathroom, and sure enough, I started projectile vomiting," she said. "I probably vomited for two hours."
"I have never been so sick in my life," she added. "My gut says food poisoning."
Lubick said she had long considered Chipotle one of the healthier fast-food options and frequently ate there.
"I'm definitely going to rethink my eating habits and try to eat at home and eat locally grown food," she said.
Lubick said she reported her illness to her local health department and submitted a report through Chipotle's website.
There is no indication her illness has been linked to the salmonella outbreak, but Billin said her experience reflects why even isolated reports of foodborne illness can shake public confidence in a food system that depends on products being grown, shipped and served on a massive scale.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
