FDA needs recall authority, group says

WASHINGTON, July 23 (UPI) -- U.S. food stores' mixed reaction to possibly tainted jalapeno and serrano peppers demonstrates the regulators' limited recall authority, a watchdog group says.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued warnings last week that raw jalapeno and serrano peppers may be linked to the salmonella outbreak associated with certain raw tomatoes. Health officials Monday said a jalapeno tainted with Salmonella saintpaul found at a packing plant in Texas came from a farm in Mexico. The FDA advised people at high risk for infection to avoid eating either pepper raw.

Some stores began pulling the suspect peppers from their shelves on Monday; others waited until Tuesday, the day after the advisory was expanded to include foods that contained raw jalapeno and serrano peppers, the Times reported.

Because the FDA doesn't have the mandatory recall authority, it's "up to individual retailers to decide what they are going to do," said Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of food safety for the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington.

DeWaal said Congress must give the FDA the ability to create better tools to track food from the farm to the dinner table as well as authority to issue mandatory recalls other than for infant formula.

"Congress should not wait for more evidence that the agency doesn't have the tools it needs," DeWaal said.