SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J., Dec. 6, 2006
Taco Bell Pulls Onions Off Menu
Decision Follows E. Coli Outbreak At Taco Bells In Three States
-
Play CBS Video Video Taco Bell Pulls Green Onions A lab found what Taco Bell officials called a harsh strain of the E-coli bacteria in samples of green onions, which have been removed from all stores in the chains. Magee Hickey reports.
-
(AP / CBS)
-
Fast Facts E. coli Learn more about a dangerous strain of a common bacteria.
-
Interactive Food Allergies Learn more about the most common food allergens and their symptoms.
-
Quiz Are You Food Savvy? Have you consumed myths about diet and nutrition? Take these quizzes to find out.
The company said that an independent lab found three samples of green onions that appeared to have a harsh strain of the bacteria.
Taco Bell said that the tests are not conclusive, but that it immediately notified health authorities and its restaurants while it awaits a final analysis.
"In an abundance of caution, we've decided to pull all green onions from our restaurants until we know conclusively whether they are the cause of the E.coli outbreak," said Greg Creed, president of Irvine, Calif.-based Taco Bell.
Taco Bell said that conclusive results will be immediately announced when available. It established a toll-free telephone number, 1-800-TACO BELL, for those with concerns about the outbreak, including customers and workers.
The chain on Tuesday reopened Long Island, N.Y., restaurants linked to the E. coli outbreak, but closed nine outlets in suburban Philadelphia after health officials reported an E. coli outbreak that sickened four people there.
Health officials have not yet been able to pinpoint the source of the bacteria that has sickened at least three dozen people in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Nine people remained hospitalized in New York and New Jersey, including an 11-year-old boy in stable condition with kidney damage.
On Tuesday, Taco Bell representatives and state and federal health inspectors visited a food distribution center in Burlington, N.J., that supplied the Long Island and New Jersey restaurants patronized by people who were sickened.
"It involves tracking your way back and trying to see if by process of elimination you can determine the root cause," said Bart McKay, a lawyer for the distributor, Texas-based McLane Co.
E. coli is found in the feces of humans and livestock. Most E. coli infections are associated with undercooked meat. The bacteria also can be found on sprouts or leafy vegetables such as spinach. The germs can be passed from person to person if they do not thoroughly wash their hands after using the bathroom.
New Jersey's health commissioner has said the most recent case of E. coli was reported Nov. 29, so the danger of infection might have passed.
Two of the New Jersey restaurants implicated were inspected and remained open. The third, in South Plainfield, remained closed Tuesday evening.
Taco Bell Corp., a subsidiary of Yum! Brands Inc., said Tuesday it had sanitized the Long Island restaurants.
Pennsylvania officials were working to determine if the outbreak there was linked to the New York and New Jersey cases. Three of those who fell ill at the end of November had eaten at a Taco Bell, state Health Department spokesman Troy Thompson said. Two were hospitalized and released.
The nine Taco Bell restaurants located in suburban Philadelphia were voluntarily closing as a precaution, the Montgomery County health department said.
In New York, Irene Abbad stopped at a Taco Bell on Long Island on Tuesday, but she was afraid to eat the food and ordered only a soft drink.
After hearing about the outbreak, she called her son, who she said is a frequent Taco Bell customer. "I said, `Don't eat Taco Bell for a while."'
E. coli, or Escherichia coli, is a common and ordinarily harmless bacteria, but certain strains can cause abdominal cramps, fever, bloody diarrhea, kidney failure, blindness, paralysis, even death.
Earlier this year, three people died and more than 200 fell ill from an E. coli outbreak that was traced to packaged spinach grown in California.
©MMVI The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
The hoax is:
accusing "cow feces contaminated irrigation water" in the case of spinich E. coli, or Escherichia coli,
and now..."acting dumb" with the new onion outbreak (for the second time in recent years)
They know the field workers, whether legal or not, " do their business", and pass feces, right in the field.
The reason?
the portable toilets are often too far from where they are working, and they choose to quickly get this task "done" when "nature calls", so they do not shorten their "working time".
Is it any wonder that .....we catch the infections on this side of the border, ....that is called "la tourista" on the other side of the border, from the very same category of people that usually live there?
They carry the "germ" with them ....wherever they go,.... thru no fault of their own.
But ....they are not motivated enough, to take the sanitary precautions that would protect those of us who eat raw veggies.
THE VERY SAME SITUATION GOES FOR CRUISE SHIPS.
THEY HAVE LOW PAID FOREIGNERS HANDLING THE FOOD AND WATER, (think ice cubes, too ) ON CRUISE SHIPS ......SO THE ONLY WAY TO HALFWAY PROTECT YOURSELVES,....IS TO EAT and drink AS IF YOU WERE IN A THIRD-WORLD COUNTRY.
The cold would give the Escherichia coli time to germinate & that is why the CDC is investigating ALL fresh Vegitables.
I wouldn't put the blame on MIGRANT workers. If anything, I would put the blame right where it belongs - TO THE FARMING CORPORATION that used a raw fertilizer base & Yum! Brands Inc (Taco Bell/Pizza Hut/KFC/Long John Silvers/A&W/Arby's) for carring more about profits & less about the way the produce is processed!