Ready Pac moves ahead as Taco Bell investigation continues
Ready Pac moves ahead as Taco Bell investigation continues
With no smoking gun, Taco Bell supplier Ready Pac Produce Inc. finds itself in an awkward position.
"We're trying to put the feathers back in the pillow that [the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention] and [the Food & Drug Administration] pulled out," said Steve Dickstein, marketing vice president for Ready Pac. "We're as dumbfounded as anybody."
The source of the contamination that sickened more than 70 people with E. coli O157:H7 in four northeastern states has never been found. But by eliminating competing foods in case control studies, federal health authorities announced in December that Iceberg lettuce served at the Mexican restaurant chain was the single most likely source of the outbreak.
More than 12 billion pounds of shredded Iceberg lettuce have been processed for foodservice in the last 10 years and the product has never been linked to E. coli poisoning, said Mr. Dickstein.
Once the outbreak investigation began to point toward a fresh produce item, Taco Bell fired off a press release announcing that it had replaced produce supplier Ready Pac with Taylor Farms, the new supplier for restaurants in the outbreak states: Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
Ready Pac said that the company will once again be Taco Bell's supplier for the outbreak states and that's its customer base has not been affected by the news headlines. "It's only temporary," said Mr. Dickstein, who pointed out that Ready Pac still supplies produce for Taco Bell restaurants in other regions of the country.
"The problem is really an industry one, not a company one," he said, and Ready Pac will be one of the companies voicing support for stricter controls over leafy greens at the Jan. 12 public meeting in California. Industry groups have drafted a marketing agreement for California leafy green handlers that, for the first time, would mandate new safety controls for companies that voluntarily agree to participate in the program.
Ready Pac has been an industry leader in instituting food safety controls and continues to require stringent testing of all products, Mr. Dickstein said. The company has also increased farm inspections as a result of the latest food safety problems.
This is the second E. coli scare to hit the company in recent months: Ready Pac spinach products were recalled in September as part of the spinach outbreak.
The issue of produce safety has become a top priority for FDA, which is under pressure to come up with new controls over growers and processors. As the Taco Bell investigation continues, FDA is planning to hold public meetings on both coasts to hear ways to improve the safety of fresh produce. The agency is expected to announce the details of the first public meeting soon. Federal regulators plan to attack the issue on many fronts and have not ruled out mandatory regulations if they would increase safety and reduce the risk of contamination.
In the meantime, lawyers representing people who fell ill after eating at Taco Bell restaurants have filed at least three lawsuits in New York and Pennsylvania against produce supplier Ready Pac, Taco Bell and Yum! Brands Inc.
Restaurant closings and front-page news coverage of the outbreak hurt business for the fast-food giant, so the public relations campaign to regain public trust has included full page newspaper advertisements and just recently a visit from Pennsylvania's top official.
On Dec. 28, Taco Bell welcomed the help of Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who visited a Philadelphia Taco Bell to reinforce the message that Taco Bell food is safe to eat.
"It's a tremendous honor to have Governor Rendell call and offer his help, and we can think of no better way of saying that our food is safe than by having him here for lunch at Taco Bell," said Greg Creed, president of Taco Bell Corp. The two dined on tacos, burritos and chalupas.
Taco Bell closed all affected restaurants, completely sanitized them, used new food from a different produce supplier and worked closely with local health officials to inspect the restaurants and approve them for reopening, said the company. It also tested more than 300 samples of all Taco Bell ingredients and found no trace of E. coli.
"We're trying to put the feathers back in the pillow that [the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention] and [the Food & Drug Administration] pulled out," said Steve Dickstein, marketing vice president for Ready Pac. "We're as dumbfounded as anybody."
The source of the contamination that sickened more than 70 people with E. coli O157:H7 in four northeastern states has never been found. But by eliminating competing foods in case control studies, federal health authorities announced in December that Iceberg lettuce served at the Mexican restaurant chain was the single most likely source of the outbreak.
More than 12 billion pounds of shredded Iceberg lettuce have been processed for foodservice in the last 10 years and the product has never been linked to E. coli poisoning, said Mr. Dickstein.
Once the outbreak investigation began to point toward a fresh produce item, Taco Bell fired off a press release announcing that it had replaced produce supplier Ready Pac with Taylor Farms, the new supplier for restaurants in the outbreak states: Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
Ready Pac said that the company will once again be Taco Bell's supplier for the outbreak states and that's its customer base has not been affected by the news headlines. "It's only temporary," said Mr. Dickstein, who pointed out that Ready Pac still supplies produce for Taco Bell restaurants in other regions of the country.
"The problem is really an industry one, not a company one," he said, and Ready Pac will be one of the companies voicing support for stricter controls over leafy greens at the Jan. 12 public meeting in California. Industry groups have drafted a marketing agreement for California leafy green handlers that, for the first time, would mandate new safety controls for companies that voluntarily agree to participate in the program.
Ready Pac has been an industry leader in instituting food safety controls and continues to require stringent testing of all products, Mr. Dickstein said. The company has also increased farm inspections as a result of the latest food safety problems.
This is the second E. coli scare to hit the company in recent months: Ready Pac spinach products were recalled in September as part of the spinach outbreak.
The issue of produce safety has become a top priority for FDA, which is under pressure to come up with new controls over growers and processors. As the Taco Bell investigation continues, FDA is planning to hold public meetings on both coasts to hear ways to improve the safety of fresh produce. The agency is expected to announce the details of the first public meeting soon. Federal regulators plan to attack the issue on many fronts and have not ruled out mandatory regulations if they would increase safety and reduce the risk of contamination.
In the meantime, lawyers representing people who fell ill after eating at Taco Bell restaurants have filed at least three lawsuits in New York and Pennsylvania against produce supplier Ready Pac, Taco Bell and Yum! Brands Inc.
Restaurant closings and front-page news coverage of the outbreak hurt business for the fast-food giant, so the public relations campaign to regain public trust has included full page newspaper advertisements and just recently a visit from Pennsylvania's top official.
On Dec. 28, Taco Bell welcomed the help of Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who visited a Philadelphia Taco Bell to reinforce the message that Taco Bell food is safe to eat.
"It's a tremendous honor to have Governor Rendell call and offer his help, and we can think of no better way of saying that our food is safe than by having him here for lunch at Taco Bell," said Greg Creed, president of Taco Bell Corp. The two dined on tacos, burritos and chalupas.
Taco Bell closed all affected restaurants, completely sanitized them, used new food from a different produce supplier and worked closely with local health officials to inspect the restaurants and approve them for reopening, said the company. It also tested more than 300 samples of all Taco Bell ingredients and found no trace of E. coli.
