Mexico hot under the collar at U.S. pepper scare

By Mica Rosenberg

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexicans are jumping to the defense of the jalapeno pepper, maligned by U.S. health inspectors in a salmonella scare but loved by millions in its ancient home and growing in popularity north of the border.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Monday it found a jalapeno pepper contaminated with the strain of salmonella that has sickened more than 1,200 people and warned everyone across the United States to stop eating them.

But the warning did little to dampen the appetite for jalapenos in Mexico, where the spicy green pepper is heaped on tacos and sandwiches at almost every street corner.