Taylor Fresh Foods Recalls Jalapeño Products Due To Salmonella

Jalapeños placed on a linen cloth — Source: years / Getty

You know, this might be a hot take, but I’m just gonna say it: maybe gutting food safety screenings wasn’t the best move. Taylor Fresh Foods announced that they are recalling jalapeños due to concerns about Salmonella contamination.

AP reports that Taylor Fresh Foods voluntarily recalled the jalapeños after learning that Coast Citrus Distributors has engaged in a similar recall over concerns of Salmonella exposure. Taylor Fresh Foods has listed guacamole, pico de gallo, and taco dip as some of the products it’s recalling. The recalled items have a “Best If Used By” date up to and including Aug. 16, 2026, and were sold at stores that include Kroger, Stop & Shop, Target, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Walmart.

Taylor Fresh Foods is the parent company of Taylor Farms, which is already under scrutiny as a result of an ongoing cyclospora outbreak that has sickened thousands across several states. Like that cyclospora outbreak, the salmonella outbreak has been linked to a farm in Mexico. Taylor Fresh Foods said that it is no longer sourcing produce from that supplier and has already begun using alternative suppliers. As of now, there are no reported illnesses due to any of the aforementioned outbreaks.

In my 34 years of being a person, these have been the most food recalls I’ve seen in such a short period of time. These outbreaks of foodborne illnesses could not have come at a worse time. More and more people are taking on credit card debt to simply pay for groceries due to rising prices. Now folks have to be concerned if the food they went into debt for is going to sicken them.

The FDA stopped mandatory testing for several foodborne illnesses last year as a result of the widespread layoffs and funding cuts implemented by the Trump administration. While Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has downplayed the role that cuts to FDA’s food safety screenings have played in the outbreaks, it’s hard not to make the connection.

Listeria is no longer required to be reported under changes to the FoodNet safety program, and wouldn’t you know it, there was a listeria outbreak last year. A program intended to monitor New Age Screwworm outbreaks was cut, and wouldn’t you know it, we’re facing one of the largest outbreaks of screwworm in decades. Mandatory screenings for Cyclospora were cut, and wouldn’t you know it, thousands of people have suffered from explosive diarrhea as a result of cyclosporiasis. Now we’re apparently dealing with multiple Salmonella outbreaks.

In addition to the jalapeños, millions of eggs were recently recalled due to concerns over a Salmonella outbreak. This is what happens when you have an administration that has completely divorced itself from the concept of meaningful governance.

We have a president who only sees the office as a means to enrich himself and litigate petty grievances, with an HHS secretary who would rather argue vaccine efficacy with conspiracy theories as opposed to keeping the American public safe. I guess we’re now one of those sh–thole countries Trump was yapping about in his last term.

Cyclospora: Could Deadlier Foodborne Illnesses Follow?