Hot sauce event survives salmonella scare

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Fears that a salmonella outbreak was linked to types of peppers have done little to limit the popularity of the Hot Sauce Festival in Texas, organizers say.

Organizers of the event in Austin, Texas, say that while there had been concern this year that hot peppers may have caused several salmonella cases nationwide, their festival drew quite a crowd, the Austin American-Statesman said Monday.

"It doesn't seem to have turned anyone away," organizer Elizabeth Derczo said at Sunday's event.

Derczo said in addition to the thousands of people in attendance, an estimated 600 people chose to take part in the event's traditional sauce-making contest.

The festival marked the first festival thrown by Ben Googins and Elias Martins, the owners of an Austin sauce company, and Googins said most who attended the festival offered inspiration words of support in the wake of the salmonella scare.

"The comments we are getting are inspiring," Googins told the newspaper. "People are very responsive. It's validating."