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E. coli at Taco Bell: 1993's Jack in the Box all over again?

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It started with just a couple of people at a couple of restaurants in New Jersey, but within a day or two, Taco Bells across New York and New Jersey were being shuttered as dozens came down sick with the E. coli bacteria.

No one is yet suggesting that this particular outbreak will be anything like the 1993 Jack in the Box tragedy, when four kids died from eating tainted meat. It does, however, raise questions as to how it happened and, more importantly, what the source was. Bad meat? Dirty lettuce? Sanitary procedures? (Which seems unlikely, given the distance between the restaurants).

Having had an E. coli infection myself when I was young, I can attest to how unpleasant and unfortunate it is -- think lots of pain, dehydration, lack of sleep, inability to eat. And that's in a very mild case; the sickest victims are suffering permanent kidney damage and worse.

Once we know whether all the people who got sick were in fact infected by Taco Bell products, the lawyers will undoubtedly swoop in. By way of reference, one 12-year-old victim of the Jack in the Box E. coli infections got more than $15 million in a settlement -- and that was 1993 dollars.

"Nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of our customers and employees," Taco Bell president Greg Creed said in a statement. "We are obviously very concerned about the well-being of all those who have been affected by this incident and will continue to work closely with health authorities to get to the root cause of the issue."

Taco Bell is of course a unit of Yum Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM), which also operates the KFC and Pizza Hut chains. News like this is never good for a listed restaurant operator. Even if it is only a dozen stores out of thousands, it still raises questions about business practices of the parent, questions that often translate into share sales.

Have you eaten at Taco Bell recently in the tri-state area? Have you been feeling unwell? Here is the government's description of what E. coli is and the symptoms it causes.

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Last updated: November 26, 2009: 01:51 AM

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