Follow-up tests clear green onions in Taco Bell outbreak
Follow-up tests clear green onions in Taco Bell outbreak
WASHINGTON -- Taco Bell's rapid test that fingered green onions as the likely cause of the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak came up negative after more thorough testing, leaving health officials to continue probing for other likely sources, the Food & Drug Administration said in a Dec. 11 press conference.
"There's nothing to implicate green onions right now," said David Acheson, chief medical officer for FDA's Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition.
Additional tests by FDA and Taco Bell's certified laboratory on the three presumptive positives came up negative for E. coli O157:H7, which has sickened at least 64 people in five states. Health officials are investigating hundreds more, including another 289 in New York.
Dr. Acheson said that FDA has not ruled out any foods served at Taco Bell, including green onions, for the latest outbreak, and that subsequent interviews with patients and record searches will narrow the investigation.
Taco Bell is cooperating fully with state and federal health officials, he said, and the company decided to remove the suspected green onions from its restaurant chain in the United States and Canada to protect public health.
News of the preliminary green onion test results caused Taco Bell to drop green onions, which were supplied by Ready Pac Produce Inc.'s Florence, NJ, plant, and switch to a new supplier, Taylor Farms, to service the Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania restaurants with fresh-cut produce.
"Out of an abundance of caution, we switched our produce supplier for all of our produce, including white onions, for New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware," said Greg Creed, president of Taco Bell Corp. "Since the independent scientific laboratory tests on all of our ingredients have concluded negative for E. coli, we have no information regarding any Taco Bell ingredient linked to this outbreak."
Taco Bell said that tests of more than 300 samples of all ingredients served at the restaurants came up negative for the bacteria.
But another commodity has tested positive E. coli in a New York Taco Bell. Nassau County inspectors found E. coli on white onions -- initially reported as green onions -- taken from samples in an open bin in the restaurant. Those samples were confirmed as E. coli O157:H7 but the isolates did not match the outbreak strain, explained Dr. Acheson.
FDA is investigating how the white onions became contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 and whether food worker cross-contamination played a role. "It is a concern," said Dr. Acheson, who did not name the onion producer.
"Our company has moved quickly to safeguard the health of our customers and employees. We are not willing to take any risk with the public's safety," said Mr. Creed, who called for better controls on the produce industry to assure safety on the farm.
Green onion grower Boskovich Farms said that it was contacted by Taco Bell about the final green onion test results. "The safety of consumers is our top priority and we are committed to continued cooperation with all agencies as they try to determine the cause of this tragic situation," the company said in a Dec. 11 statement.
New Jersey health officials, who are investigating another 45 cases that may be tied to the outbreak, said it has taken food samples from Taco Bell restaurants, the company's distributor McLane Foodservice Inc. in Burlington, NJ, and the distributor's supplier, Ready Pac Produce in Florence.
Fifteen samples of green onions taken from McLane Dec, 6 have tested negative, according to the New Jersey Department of Health & Senior Services. The batches of green onions sampled were processed by McLane's supplier, Ready Pac, Nov. 26 or later, well after the outbreak began. Most of the people in the New Jersey outbreak became ill between Nov. 22 and Nov. 30.
William Marler, who has filed two lawsuits against Taco Bell and Boskovich Farms, said that the latest outbreak must be tied to a produce item unless Taco Bell's pre-cooked meat failed to be processed correctly.
Taco Bell would not finger green onions and fire its supplier unless it had evidence supporting that decision, said Mr. Marler, whose latest lawsuit on behalf of a New York man also names Ready Pac as a defendant.
Also under investigation is a disease outbreak at another Mexican fast-food restaurant in Iowa. At least 30 people have fallen ill after eating at a Taco John restaurant in Cedar Falls, and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention's Christopher Braden said that health officials are awaiting news of whether the outbreak strain matches the ongoing outbreak at Taco Bell.
"We have no indication they're related, but we're not ruling it out" said Dr. Braden. Taco John, which runs 400 restaurants in 27 states, said that it replaced all the food in the Cedar Falls restaurant as a precaution. Taco John International said Dec. 11 that Minnesota health officials are also investigating several people who fell ill after eating at Taco John restaurants in that state.
Although CDC said it has no reports of anyone becoming sick after Dec. 2, it's still too early to say the outbreak is over. Dr. Braden said CDC would decide that in the next few days.
"There's nothing to implicate green onions right now," said David Acheson, chief medical officer for FDA's Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition.
Additional tests by FDA and Taco Bell's certified laboratory on the three presumptive positives came up negative for E. coli O157:H7, which has sickened at least 64 people in five states. Health officials are investigating hundreds more, including another 289 in New York.
Dr. Acheson said that FDA has not ruled out any foods served at Taco Bell, including green onions, for the latest outbreak, and that subsequent interviews with patients and record searches will narrow the investigation.
Taco Bell is cooperating fully with state and federal health officials, he said, and the company decided to remove the suspected green onions from its restaurant chain in the United States and Canada to protect public health.
News of the preliminary green onion test results caused Taco Bell to drop green onions, which were supplied by Ready Pac Produce Inc.'s Florence, NJ, plant, and switch to a new supplier, Taylor Farms, to service the Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania restaurants with fresh-cut produce.
"Out of an abundance of caution, we switched our produce supplier for all of our produce, including white onions, for New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware," said Greg Creed, president of Taco Bell Corp. "Since the independent scientific laboratory tests on all of our ingredients have concluded negative for E. coli, we have no information regarding any Taco Bell ingredient linked to this outbreak."
Taco Bell said that tests of more than 300 samples of all ingredients served at the restaurants came up negative for the bacteria.
But another commodity has tested positive E. coli in a New York Taco Bell. Nassau County inspectors found E. coli on white onions -- initially reported as green onions -- taken from samples in an open bin in the restaurant. Those samples were confirmed as E. coli O157:H7 but the isolates did not match the outbreak strain, explained Dr. Acheson.
FDA is investigating how the white onions became contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 and whether food worker cross-contamination played a role. "It is a concern," said Dr. Acheson, who did not name the onion producer.
"Our company has moved quickly to safeguard the health of our customers and employees. We are not willing to take any risk with the public's safety," said Mr. Creed, who called for better controls on the produce industry to assure safety on the farm.
Green onion grower Boskovich Farms said that it was contacted by Taco Bell about the final green onion test results. "The safety of consumers is our top priority and we are committed to continued cooperation with all agencies as they try to determine the cause of this tragic situation," the company said in a Dec. 11 statement.
New Jersey health officials, who are investigating another 45 cases that may be tied to the outbreak, said it has taken food samples from Taco Bell restaurants, the company's distributor McLane Foodservice Inc. in Burlington, NJ, and the distributor's supplier, Ready Pac Produce in Florence.
Fifteen samples of green onions taken from McLane Dec, 6 have tested negative, according to the New Jersey Department of Health & Senior Services. The batches of green onions sampled were processed by McLane's supplier, Ready Pac, Nov. 26 or later, well after the outbreak began. Most of the people in the New Jersey outbreak became ill between Nov. 22 and Nov. 30.
William Marler, who has filed two lawsuits against Taco Bell and Boskovich Farms, said that the latest outbreak must be tied to a produce item unless Taco Bell's pre-cooked meat failed to be processed correctly.
Taco Bell would not finger green onions and fire its supplier unless it had evidence supporting that decision, said Mr. Marler, whose latest lawsuit on behalf of a New York man also names Ready Pac as a defendant.
Also under investigation is a disease outbreak at another Mexican fast-food restaurant in Iowa. At least 30 people have fallen ill after eating at a Taco John restaurant in Cedar Falls, and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention's Christopher Braden said that health officials are awaiting news of whether the outbreak strain matches the ongoing outbreak at Taco Bell.
"We have no indication they're related, but we're not ruling it out" said Dr. Braden. Taco John, which runs 400 restaurants in 27 states, said that it replaced all the food in the Cedar Falls restaurant as a precaution. Taco John International said Dec. 11 that Minnesota health officials are also investigating several people who fell ill after eating at Taco John restaurants in that state.
Although CDC said it has no reports of anyone becoming sick after Dec. 2, it's still too early to say the outbreak is over. Dr. Braden said CDC would decide that in the next few days.
