Green Onions Not Linked To E. Coli Outbreak; Source A Mystery

Dec 11 - Green Onions Not The Link! Taco Bell Says Its Food Is Now Safe Because Its Produce Supplier Has Been Changed [Reuters]
Yet ABC News reports that the source of E coli outbreak is now a mystery. The Food and Drug Administration said Monday that a reported E. coli link to green onions last week was a lab error.
Utah's E. coli Outbreak Apparently Is Unrelated to Taco Bell Cases [Salt Lake Tribune]

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• Dec 10 - 14 Cases of College Students in Iowa from Taco Johns, which may be unrelated to Taco Bell E. coli outbreak [DesMoines Register]. Taco Bell announces Saturday that all other food ingredients other than green onions have been tested clean for E coli bacteria. [Chicago Tribune]
• Dec 9 - E. coli outbreak continues to grow. NY Daily states there are 220 potential cases in New York. McLane Co., which distributes the fast-food chain's vegetables, said it distributed the scallions to 450 Taco Bells in more states than currently have recorded cases - New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Yet South Carolina and Utah also have cases from Taco Bell.
• Dec. 8 - Utah and South Carolina Added to Growing Number of States with E. coli outbreak, making it now 7 states - CT, DE, NJ, NY, PA, SC & UT.  CDC says only Taco Bell source of outbreak.  FDA Says 35 Hospitalized. Boskovich Farms in Oxnard, California, is main provider of green onions to Taco Bell. [CNN]
• Dec. 7 - E. coli Cases in Northeast Grow to 99. Suffolk County officials confirm that bacteria has successfully been tested in unopened boxes of green onions. McLane Foodservice and Ready Pac Produce in NJ are two food distributors linked to E. coli contamination at Taco Bell restaurants in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Onions came from a California farm. Farm's name not released yet. [NYTimes]
  
• Possible E. coli cases now from Delaware and Connecticut Taco Bells [WSJ $$] U.S. Food and Drug Administration is testing non-meat items served in the restaurants that could carry the pathogen. The items include cilantro, cheddar cheese, blended cheese, green onions, yellow onions, tomatoes and lettuce. [AP]
• New Cases in Pennsylvania and New Jersey Bring Total to 65 Sick as of Wednesday afternoon.  9 Taco Bell restaurants in Philadelphia suburbs closed. Other Taco Bells in NJ and NY now open. (See comment)
• IT MAY NOT BE THE MEAT! Taco Bell Wednesday Morning Removes Green Onions From 5800 Outlets Nationwide. Green onions may be source of E. coli. Confirmation pending. [Houston Chronicle, WSJ $$]
• 39 Now Sickened in NJ and Long Island, Says NY Times on Tuesday
• South Plainfield, NJ Taco Bell Has 20 Sick Customers and 2 Sick Workers - including vegetarians (E coli virus is usually associated with eating improperly cooked ground beef that contains livestock feces)
• 4 Sickened in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Tuesday. 2 confirmed eating at Pennsylvania Taco Bell. [WFMZ-TV]
• CNN Health reports that the outbreak has probably peaked.
  "There has not been an outbreak since November 29, so I think that whatever happened went through already," Health and Senior Services Commissioner Fred M. Jacobs said Monday.
• Customers and investors worry as Yum Brands shares slide [Reuters]
• 9 Taco Bell restaurants were closed, but WSJ ($$) reports that several restaurants will reopen Tuesday. Taco Bell said the company was sanitizing the stores and replacing all their food ingredients before reopening.
• Middlesex County officials learned of the outbreak last Tuesday, but delayed announcement until Sunday over concern about public reaction. [NY Times]
• No news about who Taco Bell's supplier of the contaminated product is and what they are doing about it. But a single distributor has been found, Texas-based McLane Co. [AP ]

--  Original Sunday Story --

CNN breaks a story Sunday that at least 15 people have contracted the E. coli virus. Eleven ate at a South Plainfield, New Jersey Taco Bell. Investigators are still trying to determine categorically where the outbreak originated. Officials have not found any health code violations at the New Jersey Taco Bell.

Nine of the 11 [old data] ate at a Taco Bell restaurant in South Plainfield that was voluntarily closed on Thursday because of the investigation, but Papi said inspectors did not find any significant health code violations there last week. Tests are being performed on the restaurant's 21 employees to see if any are infected.

... the strain of E. coli that caused the New Jersey infections is often found in the intestines of healthy goats, sheep and cattle, and most infections are associated with undercooked meat.