I was with this girl once in my younger days and we were driving north somewhere in Ontario. She had previously consumed a bunch of guacamole and a few beverages, and it wasn’t long before she was vomiting the most vile smelling guacamole barf.

I’ve never eaten the stuff again (although people in the current household like it, as seen in this nearly empty bowl of guacamole photographed in the most attractive manner I could, last night).

Sol noted yesterday the U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported nearly 1 out of every 25 restaurant-associated foodborne outbreaks with identified food sources between 1998 and 2008 can be traced back to contaminated salsa or guacamole, more than double the rate during the previous decade.

Improper storage and worker contamination accounted for half the outbreaks, but, as noted by one of the researchers,

"Salsa and guacamole often contain diced raw produce including hot peppers, tomatoes and cilantro, each of which has been implicated in past outbreaks."

That part was sorta downplayed in the press release, but it shouldn’t be. The great salmonella outbreak of 2008 involved jalapeno peppers arriving contaminated at restaurants.

Food safety starts on the farm.

The United States Department of Justice announced yesterday that Yini De La Torre, 19, Shawnee, Kan., pleaded guilty to putting poison in salsa served to patrons at Mi Ranchito restaurant in Lenexa, Kan.

She pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to tamper with a consumer product. In her plea, she admitted that while working as a waitress at the Mi Ranchito restaurant in Lenexa she twice added Methomyl-based pesticide to salsa she prepared.

On Aug. 11, 2009, during the lunch rush, 12 diners at Mi Ranchito suffered nausea, abdominal cramps, weakness, sweating and chest discomfort after eating salsa. On Aug. 30, 2009, during dinner, approximately 36 patrons of Mi Ranchito suffered similar symptoms after eating salsa. Some of the customers were transported to the hospital. The poisoned patrons ranged from young children to senior citizens, some of whom suffered from medical conditions that were aggravated by the poison.

In her plea, De La Torre said her husband and co-defendant Arnoldo Bazan worked for a Mi Ranchito restaurant in Olathe until June 27, 2009. Bazan believed the owner of the Mi Ranchito chain was responsible for Bazan being suspended from employment and the theft of Bazan’s vehicle. Bazan hatched a plot with De La Torre to get even with the owner of the restaurant by poisoning the patrons of Mi Ranchito. During July 2009, the owner of the Mi Ranchito restaurant reported to the Overland Park Police Department that Bazan was stalking him. On Aug. 7, 2009, a message was sent to the restaurant’s Web site threatening harm if Bazan’s vehicle were not returned. On Aug. 28, 2009, before the second poisoning incident, Bazan sent word to the owner of the restaurant through a family member that “the worst is yet to come.”

While Lenexa police were investigating the poisoning, Bazan told Da La Torre not to speak with investigators or she would suffer physical harm. The Johnson County Health Department collected samples of food from the restaurant as well as blood and urine samples from the patrons who became ill. A Food and Drug Administration lab found Methomyl in the salsa. A laboratory at the University of California - Davis found Methomyl in the samples from the patrons.

Methomyl is a highly toxic compound introduced in 1966 as an insecticide for treatment of vegetable, fruit and field crops.

As a result of the poisoning incidents, all six Mi Ranchito restaurants suffered reduced income. The Mi Ranchito in Lenexa saw sales for September and October 2009 decline by approximately $250,000.

De La Torre is set for sentencing May 18, 2010. Bazan is awaiting trial.