Salsa and Food Poisoning: 1 in 25 Outbreaks Connected to Salsa, Guacamole

Tortilla chips and salsa (CBS)

ATLANTA (CBS/AP) Step away from the chips. Put down that salsa and guacamole! It may save your life or at least a very hellish trip to the bathroom.

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control says that "one 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."

Ouch.

The culprit, they say, are raw hot peppers, tomatoes and cilantro and the fact that salsa is often made in large batches, so a little bit of trouble can infect a lot of people.

Contamination rates doubled from the previous decade.

What to do?

The CDC urges safe preparation techniques and proper refrigeration to lower the risks.

But you probably though restaurants were doing that already.

They are right?

Read the CDC Report.

[tsigili]

Maybe we should extrapolate the underlying factor there......too many Mexican restaurants, because of too many illegal immigrants........you think?