With jalapeños off the menu, eateries struggle

Mexican restaurants try to work around loss of cuisine’s signature pepper Scott Olson / AFP - Getty Images file Mexican-grown jalapeño peppers are suspected in a nationwide salmonella outbreak once thought to have been caused by tomatoes. One hot pepper is having a chilling effect on restaurants. At El Paraiso, a Mexican-style restaurant in Santa Maria, Calif., “they’re not eating the salsa,” owner Gus Arana said of his customers. “They’re actually just leaving it there, so it is kind of scary.” El Paraiso’s customers — like those of the thousands of other Mexican-style restaurants across the country — are asking questions and rejecting old favorites after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said jalapeños may be to blame for the salmonella outbreak that has killed two people and sickened about 1,200 others. The FDA cleared... [read full story]