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CHICAGO - Fast food chain Taco Bell said today it has stopped serving green onions at its roughly 5,800 restaurants following a recent outbreak of the foodborne E. coli bacteria.
Taco Bell, a unit of Yum Brands Inc., said preliminary tests showed three samples of green onions were found to be "presumptive positive" for the E. coli 0157:H7 strain. Tests were not yet conclusive, the company said.
That strain of E. coli causes an estimated 73,000 cases of infection and 60 deaths in the United States each year.
The tests were conducted by an independent laboratory hired by Taco Bell, the company said. State health officials are conducting their own testing.
Taco Bell had closed eight restaurants on Long Island, New York, and one in New Jersey after a suspected E.coli outbreak that may have sickened more than 50 people in three states. Health officials in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania were investigating E.coli cases in people who had eaten at Taco Bell, though a source had not been determined.
The company said on Tuesday the eight New York restaurants were set to reopen and that it also hoped to reopen the New Jersey restaurant that day. A spokesman could not be reached today.
Green onions have been linked to foodborne illness at restaurants in the past. In 2003, casual dining chain O'Charley's Inc. said about 77 people contracted the Hepatitis A virus, which was traced to contaminated green onions.
Analysts said that any impact on Yum financial results was likely to be fleeting and the stock rallied almost 3 per cent on Wednesday, when the company said it would double its cash dividend.
The stock was down 73 cents at US$62.53 today on the New York Stock Exchange.
- REUTERS
