The United States Food and Drug Administration announced a recall for Serrano peppers on Friday, March 18, after samples from lot #69073901 were found to be infected with salmonella. The peppers were distributed by World Variety Produce in Los Angeles, and peppers from the affected batch were sold in Wal-Mart stores in Wyoming, Utah, Wisconsin and Montana, as well as in Jewel-Osco stores in Illinois.

Even though no sicknesses from the potentially contaminated products have been reported yet, customers who bought the peppers from the dates of March 1 to March 18 can return them to the store they purchased them from for a refund, or call World Variety Produce with any questions between 6 a. m. and 5 p. m. PST at 1-800-588-0151.

Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious illness in people with weakened immune systems like the elderly and young children. Healthy people who become infected with salmonella can experience diarrhea, fever, nausea, abdominal pain or vomiting. In even rarer cases, salmonella can get into a person's bloodstream and cause endocarditis, arthritis or arterial infections.

This is not the first time Serrano has had a problem with salmonella in their peppers. In 2008, an outbreak of it caused food poisoning for 1,300 people across 43 different states.