Boskovich Farms sues Taco Bell for libel over E. coli episode
Boskovich Farms sues Taco Bell for libel over E. coli episode
Oxnard, CA-based Boskovich Farms has filed a libel lawsuit against Taco Bell Corp. alleging that Taco Bell continued to link its green onions to the December E. coli outbreak that sickened more than 70 people in the Northeast, despite knowing the produce was not contaminated.
The lawsuit was filed the week of March 19 in Orange County Superior Court. Taco Bell Corp. is based in Irvine, CA.
Thomas Girardi, an attorney for Oxnard-based Boskovich Farms, told The Produce News March 23 that Boskovich's decision to sue Taco Bell followed the company learning that Taco Bell had documentation from the Food & Drug Administration that cleared green onions and yet has refused to acknowledge it. He termed Taco Bell's actions "malicious" and said that Taco Bell knew that Boskovich had lost its entire green onion crop. Taco Bell's stance has been one of trying to save its brand name at the expense of Boskovich, he said.
Mr. Girardi also said that the false connection between the farm and the fast food chain's E. coli outbreak has cost Boskovich millions of dollars of business. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
A Taco Bell statement released March 21 said that the "company's goal was to be transparent and provide the public with information as we learned of it. We believed green onions may have been the source based on the presumptive positive testing, so we immediately removed them from our products to put public safety first. We later learned they were not the source of the E. coli outbreak. Throughout this entire matter, Taco Bell acted openly, responsibly and with the public safety as our primary concern."
The incident cost Taco Bell $20 million in operating profit.
Taco Bell announced Dec. 6 that it had removed green onions at all of its approximately 5,800 restaurants nationwide. The move was "strictly a precautionary effort" following E. coli 0157:H7 outbreaks believed to be linked to several of its restaurants in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. On Dec. 9, Taco Bell announced in a press release that its restaurants were safe and that all ingredients had tested negative for E. coli 0157:H7 "with the possible exception of green onions, which the company removed at all 5,800 restaurants this week." In a Dec. 11 press release, Taco Bell said that preliminary E. coli tests on green onions "have now been confirmed negative by the company and the Food & Drug Administration."
Boskovich's lawsuit alleges that Taco Bell officials probably knew by Dec. 9 and certainly by Dec. 11 that green onions were not the source of the E. coli outbreak, as tests for E. coli in the green onions were confirmed negative by FDA.
In a Dec. 13 press release, Taco Bell confirmed that it was informed that day by the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention that a statistical analysis on Taco Bell's food ingredients indicated that lettuce "appears to be the most probable source of the E. coli outbreak in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware."
However, Taco Bell President Greg Creed published an open letter Dec. 13 in national newspapers stating that "all Taco Bell ingredients have come back negative for E. coli ... with the possible exception of green onions, which we removed from all 5,800 restaurants on December 6," the lawsuit said. Mr. Creed also said that Taco Bell would no longer include green onions as a food ingredient. Boskovich's lawsuit said that lettuce remains in about 70 percent of Taco Bell's food selections.
"What's really despicable is they (Taco Bell) get a final report that it isn't even the onions to blame," Mr. Girardi said. "They are sitting there with a document."
He added that despite lettuce having been identified as the culprit in the E. coli outbreak, it has not been removed from Taco Bell's menu.
Mr. Girardi complimented FDA, saying the agency "acted with dispatch and got opinions out quickly." Boskovich is undertaking an independent survey of Taco Bell customers to learn what those customers believe was the source of the E. coli outbreak in the Taco Bell chain. He said that a poster was spotted recently in a Taco Bell store saying that it doesn't use green onions even though the FDA cleared green onions back in December.
Boskovich Farms had about 55 acres of green onions in Ventura County when the outbreak occurred. As a result of the product's declining sales since the outbreak, Boskovich has no plans to replant green onions in those fields. "We ended up plowing the onions under," said Mr. Girardi.
Taco Bell never named Boskovich as its green onion supplier, but the farm provided all of the chain's green onions and was quickly mentioned in media reports about the outbreak.
The lawsuit was filed the week of March 19 in Orange County Superior Court. Taco Bell Corp. is based in Irvine, CA.
Thomas Girardi, an attorney for Oxnard-based Boskovich Farms, told The Produce News March 23 that Boskovich's decision to sue Taco Bell followed the company learning that Taco Bell had documentation from the Food & Drug Administration that cleared green onions and yet has refused to acknowledge it. He termed Taco Bell's actions "malicious" and said that Taco Bell knew that Boskovich had lost its entire green onion crop. Taco Bell's stance has been one of trying to save its brand name at the expense of Boskovich, he said.
Mr. Girardi also said that the false connection between the farm and the fast food chain's E. coli outbreak has cost Boskovich millions of dollars of business. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
A Taco Bell statement released March 21 said that the "company's goal was to be transparent and provide the public with information as we learned of it. We believed green onions may have been the source based on the presumptive positive testing, so we immediately removed them from our products to put public safety first. We later learned they were not the source of the E. coli outbreak. Throughout this entire matter, Taco Bell acted openly, responsibly and with the public safety as our primary concern."
The incident cost Taco Bell $20 million in operating profit.
Taco Bell announced Dec. 6 that it had removed green onions at all of its approximately 5,800 restaurants nationwide. The move was "strictly a precautionary effort" following E. coli 0157:H7 outbreaks believed to be linked to several of its restaurants in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. On Dec. 9, Taco Bell announced in a press release that its restaurants were safe and that all ingredients had tested negative for E. coli 0157:H7 "with the possible exception of green onions, which the company removed at all 5,800 restaurants this week." In a Dec. 11 press release, Taco Bell said that preliminary E. coli tests on green onions "have now been confirmed negative by the company and the Food & Drug Administration."
Boskovich's lawsuit alleges that Taco Bell officials probably knew by Dec. 9 and certainly by Dec. 11 that green onions were not the source of the E. coli outbreak, as tests for E. coli in the green onions were confirmed negative by FDA.
In a Dec. 13 press release, Taco Bell confirmed that it was informed that day by the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention that a statistical analysis on Taco Bell's food ingredients indicated that lettuce "appears to be the most probable source of the E. coli outbreak in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware."
However, Taco Bell President Greg Creed published an open letter Dec. 13 in national newspapers stating that "all Taco Bell ingredients have come back negative for E. coli ... with the possible exception of green onions, which we removed from all 5,800 restaurants on December 6," the lawsuit said. Mr. Creed also said that Taco Bell would no longer include green onions as a food ingredient. Boskovich's lawsuit said that lettuce remains in about 70 percent of Taco Bell's food selections.
"What's really despicable is they (Taco Bell) get a final report that it isn't even the onions to blame," Mr. Girardi said. "They are sitting there with a document."
He added that despite lettuce having been identified as the culprit in the E. coli outbreak, it has not been removed from Taco Bell's menu.
Mr. Girardi complimented FDA, saying the agency "acted with dispatch and got opinions out quickly." Boskovich is undertaking an independent survey of Taco Bell customers to learn what those customers believe was the source of the E. coli outbreak in the Taco Bell chain. He said that a poster was spotted recently in a Taco Bell store saying that it doesn't use green onions even though the FDA cleared green onions back in December.
Boskovich Farms had about 55 acres of green onions in Ventura County when the outbreak occurred. As a result of the product's declining sales since the outbreak, Boskovich has no plans to replant green onions in those fields. "We ended up plowing the onions under," said Mr. Girardi.
Taco Bell never named Boskovich as its green onion supplier, but the farm provided all of the chain's green onions and was quickly mentioned in media reports about the outbreak.
