Local restaurants play it safe with jalapeños

Despite the Food and Drug Administration advising consumers that only jalapeños and Serrano peppers grown in Mexico are connected with a national salmonella outbreak, some local restaurants are remaining steadfast in how they use and notify the public about the produce.

“I’m really careful,” said Hard Rock assistant general manager Aldwin Cullat.

Although most of Hard Rock’s shipments of jalapeños are imported from the United States, Cullat said he is not taking any chances. The restaurant has been preparing meals without using the peppers for about the last five days, once the FDA centered the outbreak on jalapeños and Serrano peppers.

On Friday, the FDA announced jalapeños and Serrano peppers grown in Mexico were connected to an outbreak; those grown in the U.S. were safe to eat. But Cullat is still keeping the foods off the plates for now.

Cullat said the lack of jalapeños and Serrano peppers have not had a large impact on the meals.

“We [buy] only about a kilo that lasts a week,” he said.

But tomatoes are a different story. Cullat said tomatoes are used more often at the restaurant.

When the FDA announced the salmonella outbreak in June, the agency initially focused on tomatoes.

Customers would sometimes ask about the lack of tomatoes when the restaurant stopped serving them with hamburgers and other foods, Cullat said.

“But they were actually happy once we explained what we were doing,” he added.

Cullat said Hard Rock began using tomatoes in foods after he was given a certificate of clearance by his food supplier.

“I don’t like my guests to be sick,” he said. “Any issues with products, I ask the supplier for clearance.”

The Subway in Garapan continues to post a message for consumers that the jalapeños and Serrano peppers have been cleared and are not part of the contaminated batch. The restaurant first notified consumers with the sign before the FDA narrowed down Mexico as the place of origin for the outbreak.

The FDA recommends all consumes ask restaurant and store managers where the jalapeños and Serrano peppers were grown or imported from. Produce changes hands many times from farm to table, the FDA warns.

Canned jalapeños and Serrano peppers are not part of the outbreak. [I][B](Kristi Eaton)[/B][/I]