A man wearing a Food and Drug Administration jacket waits to be let into a Taco Bell restaurant that is closed in South Plainfield, N.J. Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2006. At least three dozen people were stricken in New Jersey and New York and apparently all the victims had eaten at Taco Bell restaurants. The threat of more E. coli infections linked to Taco Bell restaurants appears to have passed, a health official said, as the company prepared Tuesday to reopen the affected eateries. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
By BETH DeFALCO
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J. Dec 7, 2006 (AP)— Taco Bell ordered scallions removed from its 5,800 U.S. restaurants Wednesday after tests suggested they may be responsible for the E. coli outbreak that has sickened nearly four dozen people in three states.
The fast-food chain said preliminary testing by an independent lab found three samples of green onions appeared to have a dangerous strain of the bacterium.
"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.
The company would not immediately identify the supplier of the scallions, so it was unclear whether contaminated green onions reached other restaurants or supermarkets.
Tainted green onions from Mexico were blamed for a 2003 outbreak of hepatitis A in western Pennsylvania that was also traced to a Mexican restaurant. Four people died and more than 600 people were sickened after eating the green onions at a Chi-Chi's.
California is the nation's largest supplier of green onions. But by December, as winter sets in, the vegetable is often imported from Mexico.
At least 46 confirmed cases of E. coli sickness linked to Taco Bell have been reported in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
All 15 Taco Bell restaurants in Philadelphia voluntarily closed Wednesday following a recommendation by the city's Department of Public Health.
Two restaurants on New York's Long Island were also closed Wednesday for cleaning. The chain, a subsidiary of Yum Brands Inc., had reopened other restaurants there linked to the outbreak. A Taco Bell in New Jersey remained closed for cleanup. Two other Taco Bells in New Jersey that were implicated never closed.