Federal health officials warned yesterday that the number of infections from an E. coli outbreak traced to contaminated food at Taco Bell is continuing to climb, with about 220 potential cases in New York.
Twenty-one of the New York cases have been confirmed, and health officials were still evaluating people complaining of abdominal cramps, fever, diarrhea and other ailments associated with the potentially deadly bacteria.
Taco Bell ordered the removal of green onions from its 5,800 restaurants nationwide earlier this week after testing by an independent lab suggested the bacteria may have come from tainted scallions.
Scallions from a California farm are considered the potential source of the outbreak, although health officials have not yet made a formal determination.
McLane Co., which distributes the fast-food chain's vegetables, said it distributed the scallions to 450 Taco Bells in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.
Earlier this year, three people died and more than 200 fell ill in an E. coli outbreak that was traced to packaged fresh spinach also grown in California.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it expected the number of cases related to the Taco Bell outbreak to grow.
"Illnesses are still occurring, and we consider the outbreak to be ongoing," said Dr. Christopher Braden, an epidemiologist with the CDC.
The CDC has counted 62 confirmed cases in six states, most of them in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware. South Carolina and Utah reported one case each.
About 180 of the suspected cases in New York were reported on Long Island. But authorities were reviewing a cluster of 15 complaints in upstate Oneida County.
"Now we have 15 counties - it's not just Nassau and Suffolk," state Health Commissioner Antonia Novello said.
Novello said no Taco Bells have been closed in New York, but all have been sanitized, their food thrown away and workers tested for E. coli.
Health officials said they have inspected six Taco Bell restaurants in New York City where individuals say they ate before getting sick. Two of the fast-food joints were in Manhattan, three in Queens and one on Staten Island.
E. coli is ordinarily a harmless bacteria. The dangerous strain that caused the infections is often found in the intestines of healthy goats, sheep and cattle.
It can be passed from person to person if people don't take steps such as thoroughly washing their hands.
With The Associated Press
Taco Bell fast food restaurant in Santa Cruz, California.
Taco Bell restaurants decided Wednesday to remove green onions from all 5,800 of its continental U.S. stores after a November 29 outbreak of E.coli food poisonings caused the voluntary closing of 9 mid-Atlantic states stores and led health officials to investigate the chain's regional supplier. As many as 66 people reportedly became ill in New York City, Long Island, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

The E.coli outbreak also caused Taco Bell Canada to recall green onions from all 182 locations across Canada. Officials with the Canadian branch said Wednesday evening that they would take precaution by removing green onions from all stores in Canada after hearing of the outbreak in the U.S.

Jon Prinsell, president of Yum! Canada, which operates Taco Bell Canada commented:


The U.S. Food and Drug Administration are currently collecting samples of all non-meat items including cilantro, cheddar cheese, blended cheese, green onions, yellow onions, tomatoes, and lettuce.

A man from Pennsylvania became sick after eating at Taco Bell and sued the owner of Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine, California. Another one includes a 11-year-old boy who ate at Taco Bell, was hospitalized in New York, and also sued the owner.

Most of the E. coli related sicknesses occurred in the northeast USA. No related sickness have occurred in Canada.

Health officials investigating the source of the tainted green onions, also known as scallions, have traced the vegetable's food distribution chain to the Texas-based McLane Co., which in turn got them from Irwindale-based Ready Pac.

The scallions were grown by Boskovich Farms Inc. of Oxnard, California said Steve Dickstein, the marketing vice president for Ready Pac. At what point in the food distribution chain the scallions became tainted remains under investigation.