Brought to you by Nations Restaurant News - IRVINE, , Calif. (Dec. 8) Extensive testing of every menu ingredient still being used in Taco Bell restaurants failed to find any contaminated with E.coli 0157:H7, indicating that green onions may have indeed been the culprit, Taco Bell Corp. indicated Sunday. It asserted in a statement that its restaurants pose no health hazard now that green onions have been removed from the kitchens of all 5,882 Taco Bells in North America.
Meanwhile, a second lawsuit has been filed against the chain and parent Yum! Brands, alleging both were negligent in selling food contaminated with a dangerous form of the E. coli bacteria.
Seattle law firm Marler Clark filed a suit in Pennsylvania's Montgomery County Dec. 8 on behalf of a man who is recovering from E. coli symptoms suffered after eating at a Taco there. This suit also names Boskovich Farms of Oxnard, Calif., which grew green onions supplied to Taco Bell, as a defendant.
The law firm, which specializes in representing victims of foodborne illness, is investigating claims from other E. coli sufferers who ate at Taco Bell restaurants recently, said attorney Drew Falkenstein.
Green onions are one of several non-meat ingredients Taco Bell sells that the Food and Drug Administration is testing for E. coli contamination. As of Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control had confirmed 58 E. coli cases linked to Taco Bell foods but has not identified a contamination source.
On Dec. 7, a lawsuit was filed against Taco Bell Corp. by the family of an 11-year-old New York boy who was diagnosed with an E. coli bacterial infection after eating three tacos from a unit in Riverhead, N.Y., a town in Suffolk County.
On Friday, authorities from adjacent Nassau County said tests had conclusively determined that E.coli had contaminated green onions taken from a Taco Bell. Suffolk officials reportedly found traces of the potentially lethal E. coli 0157:H7 strain in packaged green onions taken from a Taco Bell there earlier in the week.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that health departments in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, South Carolina and Utah had reported a total of 63 cases of the severe illness occurring between Nov. 20 and Dec. 2. Most victims had reported becoming sick after eating at Taco Bell restaurants. Some news reports have pegged the tally of victims at more than 200 people in six states.
Taco Bell said Sunday that it had sampled 150 samples of various foodstuffs and ingredients used in its food.
On the basis of earlier, preliminary tests, Taco Bell has removed green onions from the chain’s 5,800 domestic restaurants and 82 Canadian stores. It is unclear how many units are still closed because of the outbreak.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment