---
title: "Jalapeños served at Qdoba, Chipotle tied to Salmonella outbreak"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/f3607e56-aa2b-4071-a62a-bbbefcf094b2
source: "Restaurant Dive"
original_url: https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/chipotle-qdoba-sweetgreen-salmonella-jalapeno-outbreak/827360/
category: "Mexican"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Mexican"
published: 2026-08-07T00:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-10-31T14:05:32.172Z
image: https://imgproxy.divecdn.com/uG4q5E_J4UDQtMGKUiT_xlRgg-Bg_qglkiLVhYms-78/g:ce/rs:fit:770:435/Z3M6Ly9kaXZlc2l0ZS1zdG9yYWdlL2RpdmVpbWFnZS9RRE9CQV9CdXJyaXRvLmpwZw==.webp
---

# Jalapeños served at Qdoba, Chipotle tied to Salmonella outbreak

**TL;DR:** Qdoba and Chipotle have stopped serving jalapeños due to a Salmonella outbreak that has affected hundreds of consumers across 27 states. The outbreak has been linked to contaminated jalapeño peppers distributed by Coast Citrus Distributors, which were supplied by a grower in Sinaloa, Mexico.

*originally published in Restaurant Dive on 2026-08-07. [Read the original](https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/chipotle-qdoba-sweetgreen-salmonella-jalapeno-outbreak/827360/).*

## Story

Both chains stopped serving potentially contaminated peppers after hundreds of consumers across 27 states fell ill.

UPDATE: 8/10/2026: Taylor Farms is recalling 20 products containing finished or processed jalapeños that may be contaminated with Salmonella, after a grower in Sinaloa, Mexico, supplying Coast Citrus Distributors was identified as the source of the ongoing outbreak, according to a Sunday announcement . The products were distributed to several grocery chains. Taylor Farms said it has ceased sourcing products from the grower and that it was unaware of any cases of Salmonella linked to its jalapeño products.

Lettuce distributed by Taylor Farms de Mexico has been linked to several thousand cases of cyclosporiasis this summer.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 345 people across 27 states have fallen ill in a Salmonella outbreak tied to contaminated jalapeño peppers distributed by Coast Citrus Distributors.

The vast majority (93%) of patients interviewed as part of the public health investigations reported eating at Mexican restaurants before falling ill, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration . Patients reported the onset of illnesses from June 19 to July 20.

On July 20, Chipotle switched suppliers for jalapeños and stopped serving the potentially contaminated products. Qdoba did the same starting on July 28 , the FDA said.

Both brands issued statements this week explaining the rationale for the product removals.

Chipotle said its ingredient traceability system “identified jalapeños from a particular grower in Sinaloa, Mexico, and distributed by Coast Citrus Distributors as a common ingredient from a common lot, proactively removed them from the restaurants where they had been distributed, and replaced them with product from different growers.”

Qdoba pulled jalapeños from all of its stores “out of an abundance of caution,” according to a Wednesday press release .

The brands are not alone in pulling peppers from their stores. On Thursday, Sweetgreen CEO Jonathan Neman disclosed the salad chain had “removed and discarded all jalapeños from the supplier in the affected areas,” as a precautionary measure .

“Jalapeños are used in only two of our 15 dressings and nowhere else on our menu, representing a very small portion of our sales mix,” Neman said.

The Salmonella incident is the second national epidemic of foodborne illness to strike in 2026. Earlier in July, health authorities linked Taco Bell and Taylor Farms de Mexico to an outbreak of cyclosporiasis tied to shredded iceberg lettuce that has sickened thousands across 15 states .

## Entities

- QSR (sector)
- Taco Bell (company)
- Chipotle (company)
- qsr industry (topic)
- Restaurant Dive (publication)
- Qdoba (company)
- Sweetgreen (company)
- food safety (topic)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (regulator)
- Jonathan Neman (person)
- Taylor Farms (company)
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration (regulator)

---
Originally reported by Restaurant Dive (https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/chipotle-qdoba-sweetgreen-salmonella-jalapeno-outbreak/827360/). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/f3607e56-aa2b-4071-a62a-bbbefcf094b2).