Salmonella outbreak linked to jalapenos served at Chipotle expands to Qdoba: FDA

Health officials are expanding an investigation into jalapenos served at Chipotle restaurants to include Qdoba restaurants. The Food and Drug Administration said the jalapenos may be a possible source of a growing salmonella outbreak that has infected 345 people across 27 states. Both restaurants have removed the jalapenos from their stores, the FDA said. The FDA identified through a traceback investigation that both Chipotle and Qdoba received food ingredients that were grown in Mexico and imported by Coast Citrus Distributors from Sinaloa. Coast Citrus Distributors has since agreed to recall jalapeno product from the market, per the FDA.

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Scoop News DeskChipotle · Published Thursday, August 6, 2026 at 1:44 PM UTCUpdated Thursday, August 6, 2026 at 3:02 PM UTC

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Qdoba said in a statement to ABC News that it is "cooperating with public health authorities" in the investigation and have pulled jalapenos from their restaurants. "Out of an abundance of caution, we have proactively removed jalapenos from all our restaurants at this time," the restaurant chain said. "We take any report involving guest health seriously and are committed to responding appropriately based on the facts and guidance from public health authorities." "Food safety is our highest priority," Qdoba added. "We maintain rigorous food safety standards and work closely with our suppliers, distribution partners, and restaurant teams to help ensure the safety and quality of the food we serve." Chipotle previously told ABC News they had removed jalapenos from affected restaurants in multiple states as well. "We have a robust ingredient traceability system and, upon learning of a potential Salmonella outbreak in the supply chain impacting several food service retailers, we proactively identified jalapenos as a potential common ingredient from a common lot, removed them from the restaurants where they had been distributed, and replaced them with product from different growers," Laurie Schalow, Chipotle's chief corporate affairs and food safety officer, said in a statement. Overall, there have been zero deaths reported but 36 have been hospitalized, the CDC said.