FRESNO, Calif. -- An E. coli outbreak that has sickened 59 people in the Northeast is prompting concern among West Coast farmers after officials announced that scallions suspected as carriers of the bacteria came from a Southern California farm.
The green onion link to the infections _ mostly of customers at Taco Bell restaurants in the New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia areas _ hasn't been confirmed. But some experts say the questions already have cast a shadow on an industry still recovering from a similar bacterial outbreak traced to locally grown spinach.
"Even if it turns out that the implication to green onions doesn't hold up, a lot of damage is done," said Trevor Suslow, a vegetable specialist at the University of California, Davis. "It certainly heightens concern and undermines confidence among consumers and buyers about the safety of products coming from the state."
Taco Bell restaurants in eight Northeastern states received scallions that may be linked to the outbreak, according to McLane Co., which distributes the fast-food chain's vegetables.
McLane lawyer Bart McKay said Thursday that two of the company's facilities _ one in New Jersey and one in New York _ distributed the scallions to 450 Taco Bells in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.
Ready Pac Produce has said its processing center in Florence, N.J., handled the vegetables that were shipped from McLane's distribution centers.
A spokesman for Irwindale-based Ready Pac, one of the nation's leading produce packers, said it had cleared that plant of all raw and processed green onions.
The suspect scallions were grown by Boskovich Farms Inc. of Oxnard, said Steve Dickstein, marketing vice president for Ready Pac.
Lindsay Martinez, a Boskovich Farms spokeswoman, said the company was cooperating with the fast-food chain as it attempts to track the source of the bacteria.
On Friday, a Pennsylvania man who became ill from E. coli after eating food from a Taco Bell sued the fast-food chain's owner, Yum Brands Inc., and Boskovich Farms in federal court in Philadelphia.
Stephen Minnis said he had to be hospitalized after eating food from a Taco Bell on Nov. 26. The lawsuit seeks at least $75,000 in damages, claiming the tainted food was not fit for human consumption and that the companies were negligent and violated food-safety regulations.
Will Bortz, a Taco Bell spokesman, declined to comment on the lawsuit.
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.