On Thursday, federal health officials finally lifted the 40 day-old warning with regard to tomatoes, that has caused industry losses of about $250 million. Up to this point, investigators have analyzed more than 1,700 samples (soil, water and tomatoes) from packing sheds, storage warehouses and harvest fields; the bacteria’s presence was not confirmed.

The Food and Drug Administration is still working alongside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in order to find the source of the largest salmonella outbreak in the past ten years. Now that tomatoes have been cleared, the remaining suspicious vegetable is the jalapeño pepper.

As the tests performed by the government are getting increasingly rigorous, the pepper imports from Mexico are slowing down. As tests take quite a long time, entire stocks of peppers rot in warehouses before they can be released on the market. Several companies have temporarily suspended their pepper-based businesses. Last week, investigators advised the most vulnerable citizens, the young and the old, to avoid eating jalapeños and serrano peppers.

Since April, when the situation began, no less than 1,220 people in the US and Canada have reported Salmonella saintpaul-related illnesses. However, this is not the final balance, as new cases are still being brought up.

All the types of tomatoes previously considered to be potentially dangerous (fresh Roma, red plum and vineless red round tomatoes) will now find their way back to the market. According to David Acheson, a top FDA food safety official, the tomatoes will be provided by farms that haven’t harvested in April.