IRWINDALE, Calif. — On days when thousands of jalapeno peppers are ground to make the hot, tangy sauce favored by chefs nationwide, a fine red powder coats Dena Zepeda’s silver Nissan and, when she’s outside, collects in her ears.
Zepeda, 57, of Irwindale, said that in August, glands between her jaw and her ears began to swell and hurt. It wasn’t hard to draw a connection to Huy Fong Foods, which turns peppers and garlic into its top-selling Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce less than 500 feet (150 meters) from her home.
A judge’s order to cease operations causing odors at the plant threatens to push the closely held company out of business, according to Chief Executive Officer David Tran. The company is part of the $1 billion annual hot-sauce industry, led by Tabasco bottler McIlhenny and Frank’s RedHot maker Reckitt Benckiser, according to market-research firm IBISWorld. Closing the plant would cost Huy Fong 200,000 bottles a day of the sauce, the bulk of its production.
“My four sons all like sriracha,” said Zepeda, who has lived in Irwindale for 40 years and petitioned her Los Angeles suburb to sue Huy Fong. “They tell me, ‘Mom, what are you doing to them?’ I tell them, ‘It’s not about what I’m doing to them, it’s about what they’re doing to me.’ “