The Food and Drug Administration is continuing its investigation of an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections linked to eating food from Taco Bell restaurants in 5 states.  FDA is collaborating with state and local health officials, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the firm to identify the cause of the outbreak. 

The peak of the outbreak occurred in the last week of November.  The number of new cases being identified has declined substantially.  For the latest details about these cases, see the CDC website at http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2006/december/120806.htm.  

Number of Cases 

CDC today reports 67 probable or confirmed cases of illness associated with the outbreak:  30 cases in New Jersey, 22 cases in New York, 12 cases in Pennsylvania, 2 cases in Delaware and 1 case in South Carolina (a person who became ill after eating at a Taco Bell in Pennsylvania).   In the vast majority of the cases, individuals reported having eaten at a Taco Bell restaurant within seven days before onset of illness.  Other cases of illness are under investigation by state public health officials.  Among the 67 cases, 51 were hospitalized and 8 developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).  Illness onset dates range from November 20 to December 5.  

Source of Outbreak 

The source of the outbreak has not been determined, although it is presumed to be a contaminated food or foods.  Testing by FDA of samples of food items from Taco Bell restaurants has found no E. coli O157:H7.  CDC is conducting an ongoing “case control” study that involves interviewing ill and well Taco Bell restaurant patrons about what food items they consumed.  By comparing foods consumed by ill and well persons, investigators can show statistical links to particular food ingredients.  Of those ingredients, those consumed raw are of particular interest.  The CDC study is demonstrating that onions are probably not linked to this outbreak.  

On December 6, Taco Bell Corp. announced it was voluntarily removing green onions from its restaurants nationwide after preliminary tests by the firm indicated the possible presence of E. coli O157:H7 in samples of the product.  However, more sophisticated and reliable confirmatory tests conducted by FDA on the same samples tested negative for the presence of E. coli O157:H7. 

FDA has been working with Taco Bell Corp. and its suppliers and distributors to obtain information on sources and distribution of products, to aid in tracing back any product found to be contaminated with the bacteria or identified by the CDC case-control study as a vehicle of transmission. 

E. coli O157:H7 Infection 

Infection with E. coli O157:H7 causes diarrhea, often bloody.  Although most healthy adults can recover completely within a week, some people can develop hemolytic uremic syndrome, a form of kidney failure.  This condition is most likely to occur in young children and the elderly.  The condition can lead to serious kidney damage and even death.  Consumers who are concerned that they may have contracted E. coli O157:H7 infection should notify their local health department, and contact their physician or health care provider to seek medical attention as needed. 

FDA will provide additional updates on this investigation as more information becomes available. 

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If you or a loved one have been the vicitm of Taco Bell induced food poisoning, you should contact us immediately. You may be entitled to compensation for your food poisoning related injuries. 

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Source | ASSOCIATED PRESS

For more than two weeks, industry and health officials have tried to untangle how E. coli bacteria sickened scores of Taco Bell customers. The mystery still isn’t solved, an indication of the trickiness of tracking illness through a mass-produced food system.

It’s becoming a terrible routine. And despite the media attention this outbreak has drawn, it isn’t even a particularly remarkable case.

Overall, foodborne illnesses are not increasing. But federal health officials have dealt with five multistate outbreaks of produce-related illnesses in the last four months, including a spinach-caused E. coli outbreak that killed three and sickened more than 200 in September, and two tomato-caused salmonella outbreaks that made about 400 people ill in October and November.

“We’ve been in intense investigation mode since September,” said Dr. Christopher Braden, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention epidemiologist leading the investigation.

The outbreaks cast media klieg lights on the issue of food safety, and the focus grew more intense this month, when at least 71 customers at Taco Bell restaurants in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware were reported ill.
Indeed, the CDC has taken the unusual step of using its Atlanta emergency operations center – a “war room” facility designed for disaster situations – for coordination of the Taco Bell investigation.

Still, this latest probe is not particularly unusual. Through a process of elimination, health officials have named iceberg lettuce as the culprit, and they feel confident about it despite a lack of scientific evidence.

“I think the chances are very good” that investigators will track the contagion back to its source, Braden said.
That’s not to say the probe has been easy.

At issue is E. coli, or Escherichia coli, a common and ordinarily harmless bacteria found in the gut of cattle and other animals. The E. coli O157:H7 strain can cause abdominal cramps, fever, bloody diarrhea, kidney failure, blindness, paralysis, even death.

Earlier this year, the CDC reported that rates of most forms of foodborne illness had dropped since the mid-1990s. That included the dangerous O157 strain of E. coli, which fell 29 percent.

There’s been a clear decline in E. coli outbreaks involving ground beef, thanks to changes in the beef industry, Braden said. But E. coli illnesses involving leafy green vegetables have continued, at a rate of one to five outbreaks a year, he said.
Taco Bell uses a variety of ingredients in its Mexican menu items. Hundreds of food samples taken from restaurants and their suppliers failed to find the E. coli that sickened restaurant patrons.

Briefly, there was a false lead: A laboratory hired by Taco Bell detected E. coli in green onions, and the chain removed the vegetables from its restaurants. But subsequent tests found those results to be incorrect.

Also complicating the investigation were a couple of timing issues: First, high-volume restaurants like Taco Bell tend to use up and throw out food items in only a matter of days. Second, E. coli victims usually don’t began feeling ill until one to 10 days after eating a contaminated meal.

By the time victims got sick, went to the doctor and had tests done to diagnose the cause, the contaminated food was probably gone, noted Jean Halloran, a food policy expert with Consumers Union.

Sometimes, health investigators get a break. In the recent investigation into tainted spinach, sick people still had bags of the bacteria-tainted greens sitting in their refrigerators.

Those bags of spinach were “the smoking gun” that helped the U.S. Food and Drug Administration trace the outbreak all the way back to the California fields that grew the infected produce, said Michael Doyle, director of the University of Georgia’s Center for Food Safety who was hired by Taco Bell to help it test its food.

“The spinach outbreak was an unusual circumstance. Everything kind of fell into place,” Doyle said. Health officials settled on spinach as the cause just one day into that investigation, Braden said.

But in the Taco Bell probe, health officials had to rely on what 58 patients said they ate, and on food distribution records that would explain why those restaurants had outbreaks but not others.

Ground beef, cheddar cheese and lettuce were the common ingredients eaten by all the people who became ill. The first two were considered unlikely, because of cooking, pasteurization and the fact that they were delivered to restaurants where people did not get sick.

On Wednesday, health officials announced lettuce was the likely cause, although patient interviews and other work will continue.

On Thursday, they said case reports have peaked and the danger has apparently ended. “The outbreak is over,” said CDC spokesman Dave Daigle.

Taco Bell officials noted that they changed produce suppliers last week, and said the food in the restaurants is safe.
“I want to reassure our customers that it is absolutely safe to eat at Taco Bell. We are pleased this outbreak is over, and we look forward to serving our customers at all our restaurants,” said Greg Creed, president of Taco Bell Corp.

Of course, not everyone is happy with how the investigation is going. Tom Russell, president of Salinas, Calif.-based grower Pacific International Marketing, said farmers were doing everything they could to ensure the safety of their crops.
Federal health officials were too quick to link lettuce to the E. coli outbreak, he said.

“They should do their research before they start smearing products,” Russell said. “Each time they do it, they drive prices down.”

Halloran, of Consumers Union, said she believe investigators have done the best job they could, given the complexities involved. She called for better infection control at farms and better inspections at processing plants to prevent such illnesses from recurring.

“We have to do a better job dealing with this problem at the source,” she said.

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Source | Reuters

A contagious stomach virus is likely to blame for sickening about 370 people who ate at an an Indianapolis Olive Garden restaurant last week, a county health official said on Monday.

Stool tests of three Olive Garden employees and one customer tested positive for norovirus, according to Marion County Health Department spokesman John Althardt.

Norovirus is a gastrointestinal illness that causes symptoms including vomiting and diarrhea. Norovirus is prevalent in hospitals, nursing homes, cruise ships and other semi-enclosed environments.

Olive Garden is a unit of Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI.N: Quote, Profile , Research) The affected restaurant was closed on Friday, and Althardt said the health department had approved its reopening on Monday.

Source | 13 Eyewitness News

Indianapolis - A local restaurant closed for illness has been cleared to reopen.Health officials closed the Olive Garden in Castleton on Friday after hundreds complained of illness. Test results came back Monday showing that the cause of the outbreak was a type of norovirus.

Some 370 people complained of illness after eating at the Castleton Olive Garden branch last week. The restaurant has undergone two thorough cleanings with bleach solution and after an inspection by the Marion County Health Department, it has been cleared to open again.

Health Department spokesman John Althardt says stool samples from three restaurant employees and one patron tested positive for a norovirus. The virus can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

The norovirus is often associated with outbreaks at restaurants, cruise ships and nursing homes. It is spread when infected people do not wash their hands thoroughly after using the bathroom. The virus is highly contagious and spreads easily through contaminated surfaces and bodily fluids of the infected individual.

The restaurant says it plans to institute better handwashing procedures. Also, before each shift begins, managers will ask employees if they feel sick. If anyone reports feeling ill, they will be sent home.

Initially it was thought that E.coli might have been responsible for the Olive Garden illness, but the bacteria has been ruled out as a cause. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believes that E.coli is behind an outbreak at some Taco Bell restaurants on the east coast. Those cases are not related to the Castleton Olive Garden incident.
The Castleton restaurant will reopen Tuesday at 4:00 pm.

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Source | WESH 2

An Orlando based restaurant is closed after hundreds of people who ate there went to the doctor’s office days after.
More than 300 people got sick after eating at the Orlando-based Darden restaurant, Olive Garden, in Indianapolis, WESH 2 News reported.

Three of those people have been hospitalized. Customers complained of nausea, vomiting, fever and diarrhea.

“You’ve probably heard about the illnesses on the cruise ships; this is the same type of thing, possibly. The investigation is still going it hasn’t been confirmed yet,” Scott Gilliam from the Indiana Health Dept. said. “We see these kinds of outbreaks typically this time of year, around the holidays. It’s just so easily spread from person to person just from being in the same area and being in close contact with individuals.”

Gilliam said it may be the Norovirus that caused the sickness and also had six restaurant workers who reported feeling sick.

The problem has been isolated to just that restaurant.WESH 2 called Darden for a comment but haven’t heard back.

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