WASHINGTON – The U.S. government has declared it’s OK to eat tomatoes again, lifting its salmonella warning amid signs that the outbreak – while not over – may finally be slowing.

Officials reiterated earlier warnings that the people most at risk of salmonella should avoid hot peppers – jalapenos and serranos.

The government still doesn’t know just what caused the salmonella outbreak, and Thursday’s move doesn’t mean tomatoes are cleared. Early on, there was good evidence linking them to the sick, but it’s unlikely that any field where tomatoes were harvested in April and May still is in production.

But among later illnesses, there seems to be more evidence against peppers. The FDA is sending inspectors to Mexico to investigate a packing house that receives peppers from a number of farms.