Salame products produced by Daniele International, Inc., a Rhode Island based company, were implicated in a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Montevideo infections. Purchase data from club shopper cards was used to identify the food vehicle. The outbreak strain of Salmonella Montevideo was isolated from samples of Daniele salames found in case patients' homes and in unopened product samples. In addition, some laboratories isolated Salmonella Senftenberg in salame samples from retail and case-patient households. Laboratory studies showed that at least eleven case-patients were infected with the same strain of Salmonella Seftenburg; two of these case-patients had reportedly eaten salame in the week prior to illness onset. However, the Centers for Disease Control(CDC)had decided not to include these cases in the outbreak count total. Daniele International issued a recall for its products on January 23, 2010, and then expanded their product recalls on January 31, February 4, and February 16. On January 27, 2010, Daniele International Inc. announced that Salmonella Montevideo was isolated from an opened container of ground black pepper that had been used to crust some salami products. The black pepper had been purchased from spice importers, Wholesome Spice and Mincing Overseas Spice Company. Both distributors imported from common sources, and Salmonella was detected in black pepper from both distributors. One sample from an open container matched the outbreak strains. In mid-February, crushed, red pepper became the focus of the investigation after the outbreak strain of Salmonella Montevideo was found in an unopened salami product that had been spiced with red pepper only, no black pepper. On February 19, the Washington Post reported that Daniele International detected Salmonella Montevideo in sealed containers of crushed red pepper. On February 25, crushed red pepper sold by Wholesome Spice was recalled. The crushed red pepper was distributed to commercial outlets between April 6, 2009, and January 20, 2010. On March 5, Mincing Overseas Spice Company recalled black pepper Lots 3258 and 3309 because of possible contamination with Salmonella. The investigation showed that the salame products were properly cured, but became contaminated when they were rolled in spice mixtures containing pepper. The spice companies used a steam bath technique to kill bacteria that was insufficient. The spices are now irradiated as a consequence of this outbreak.