Washington, July 7 - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is broadening its testing of food beyond tomatoes, including looking at imported products, to find the source of a salmonella outbreak in the United States, a spokesman said on Monday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 943 cases of salmonella food poisoning as of July 4, up from 869 cases days on July 1.
Although tomatoes are still the "lead suspect," cilantro, jalapeno peppers and Serrano peppers have been added as possible culprits, according to FDA spokesman Mike Herndon.
The U.S. government has not imposed any trade barriers as a result of the outbreak, Herndon said, calling earlier reports that some foods from Mexico would be banned "erroneous."
"We are not closing the borders," he said. "As for links to Mexico, we are looking at imported and domestic products."
Alabama, Iowa, Louisiana and South Carolina -- all food-poisoning free before July 1 -- were added to the list of now 40 states along with the District of Columbia with salmonella cases.
The outbreak has hit Texas the hardest with 356 people falling ill from the bacteria. New Mexico and Illinois follow with 98 and 93 cases, respectively.
Since the first cases of salmonella were reported on April 10, 130 people have been hospitalized for treatment of the illness.
Because tomatoes are still the main focus of the FDA probe, Herndon said the message to consumers is still the same: do not consume raw tomatoes grown and harvested in areas not yet cleared by the agency.