WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 -- The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared a multistate salmonella outbreak linked to jalapeno peppers on Wednesday, with 345 cases confirmed and 36 people hospitalized, prompting Chipotle Mexican Grill and QDOBA to pull jalapeno-based items from their menus.

The CDC identified jalapeno peppers sourced from the Mexican state of Sinaloa and distributed by Coast Citrus Distributors as the likely contamination source. Epidemiological investigation and supply-chain tracing pointed to the distributor as a common link among confirmed cases.

"Epidemiologic and traceback data show that jalapeno peppers from Sinaloa, Mexico and distributed by Coast Citrus Distributors may be contaminated with Salmonella Javi...