Salmonella outbreak

The salmonella St Paul outbreak has now sickened well over 1000 people and the source is still unknown.  See MarlerBlog for more information:

OK, So it seems like it is Jalapenos and salmonella, or is Serrano Peppers or Cilantro? (July 9)

Tomatoes, Jalapeno Peppers, Serrano Peppers and Cilantro Still Under Salmonella Saintpaul Suspicion (July 10)

I received an interesting comment from Airhog on an earlier post (Salad season, E. coli lettuce, and salmonella)

I was the president of a mayonnaise producing company in Portland, Oregon during the original Sizzler E.coli outbreaks. I am also a Food Microbiologist. Epidemiologist's using surveys had identified mayonnaise produced at our plant as the source of the E.coli. They had all kinds of wild theories about how the mayonnaise riding in trucks with contaminated meat was contaminated. There is only one problem: commercially prepared mayonnaise contains about 15% vinegar in its water (it is 80% oil and the vinegar is dissolved in the water), it is widely known fact that mayonnaise is toxic to pathogenic bacteria (despite it's common reputation).

We found out some time after the outbreak that untrained workers in the Sizzler's kitchens used buckets to make salad dressings with mayonnaise as a common ingredient in which they had previously transported meat! This practice is a consequence of using poorly trained kitchen labor. Of course the surveys showed mayonnaise as the source!!

Thanks, Airhog!