GM Kills $10 Million Facebook Ad Campaign Because It Didn't Work
JCPenney's Ron Johnson: 'Customers Don't Get Our Pricing Strategy'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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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
12-13-2006 @ 8:12AM
Terry said...
It's not just the recent outbreak at Taco Bell that doesn't suprise me. If you watch how the employees put together your food it will make your stomach turn.I have yet seen any employee use gloves when dipping their hand in lettuce, cheese or tomatoes. I confronted several employees (when I use to eat there) about not wearing gloves. The comment was we don't need to because we sanitize our hands before handling food. This was an employee that just took my money and then went back to get my food. She did not sanitize her hands or any other part of her body that I could see.
My opinion is Taco Bell is not living up to making sure what they serve it safe at ALL TIMES>
12-13-2006 @ 9:47AM
louise dill said...
i stopped eating at tacobell over 2 years ago
because of sanitary conditions
12-13-2006 @ 3:27PM
betty salisbury said...
i too noticed that taco bell employees did not wear plastic gloves when preparing the food. I always wondered why the health dept. did not check on that.
12-13-2006 @ 10:59AM
Stephanie said...
My husband had eaten at the Taco Bell in South Plainfield, NJ on the 28th of November two days before they shut it down. So far he has had no symptoms, but I'm scared to death because we have three young children with the youngest being only 13 months. I'm so afraid even with no syptoms he could still be carrying it and it could spread to one of my children, but luckily we have strict handwashing rules in this house, not just for after the bathroom but before preparing or eating food, etc.
12-13-2006 @ 11:21AM
Zachary Benjamin said...
Food safety is a huge issue. Since the outbreak is happening at more then one store, its not the stores fault. You can really only do so much when it comes to food safety. I agree it needs some work, but on the other hand I think we need to look at where the food is coming from!
12-14-2006 @ 12:49PM
Brian Patterson said...
My son got e.coli 0157H:7 and was hooked up to morphine for 7 days in a hospital. We tried to settle with McDonalds insurance carrier Zurich but without uneaten food that can link McDonalds as the source, we did not have a chance against multi billion corporations. Both Zurich and McDonalds have an army of lawyers to defend themselves. Their prepared because they know there is not 100%protection against tainted food.E>Coli comes from cattle who forage all day long. Studies have shown cattle feed grain 1 week prior to slaughter will eliminate any e coli in their intestines.
What added to our frustration was the CDC found 7 PFGE pattern matches in their data base...but would not release the names on the individuals. If we could have gotten the names of the 7 other PFGE pattern matches, we could have been interviewed them to determine the source. A PFGE pattern match links all individuals to the same e coli DNA fingerprint. The CDC is often slow to react to an outbreak, therefore any tainted food is consumed leaving no evidence, the HIPPA laws protect McDonalds and Zurich ins could care less.
The Taco Bell victims will have a hard time settling without concrete links or traces back to Taco Bell because of the slow response time by the CDC. If you ever take your children to McDonalds, be sure to bring a zip lock bag and save uneaten food for 5-7 days which is the incubation period for E.Coli0157H7. Uneaten food and a reciept is your only sure bet of proving where you ate the tainted food. Tell your friends.
12-13-2006 @ 5:52PM
Brian Patterson said...
My son got e.coli 0157H:7 and was hooked up to morphine for 7 days in a hospital. We tried to settle with McDonalds insurance carrier Zurich but without uneaten food that can link McDonalds as the source, we did not have a chance against multi billion corporations. Both Zurich and McDonalds have an army of lawyers to defend themselves. Their prepared because they know there is not 100%protection against tainted food.E>Coli comes from cattle who forage all day long. Studies have shown cattle feed grain 1 week prior to slaughter will eliminate any e coli in their intestines.
What added to our frustration was the CDC found 7 PFGE pattern matches in their data base...but would not release the names on the individuals. If we could have gotten the names of the 7 other PFGE pattern matches, we could have been interviewed them to determine the source. A PFGE pattern match links all individuals to the same e coli DNA fingerprint. The CDC is often slow to react to an outbreak, therefore any tainted food is consumed leaving no evidence, the HIPPA laws protect McDonalds and Zurich ins could care less.
The Taco Bell victims will have a hard time settling without concrete links or traces back to Taco Bell because of the slow response time by the CDC. If you ever take your children to McDonalds, be sure to bring a zip lock bag and save uneaten food for 5-7 days which is the incubation period for E.Coli0157H7. Uneaten food and a reciept is your only sure bet of proving where you ate the tainted food. Tell your friends.
12-13-2006 @ 6:41PM
Stacey said...
It is so unfair to criticize all fast food restaurants because of what someone might have heard happened 15 years ago in a totally random place. I understand the seriousness of food-borne illness, having been issued a sanitation license at the expense of a highly scrutunized-as-of-late fast food restaurant, and I can asssure those people who eat where I work that there will be no "urine, cum, other stuff" in your food. It is incredibly insulting that anyone would condemn the whole for the problems of a few, especially when everything that can be done is being done. There are as many people to blame in this situation as there are victims, possibly many more. The point is, questioning cleanliness is a natural reaction to an E. coli outbreak, but please do not think that because you received your food quickly that it was at the expense of any other basic requirement for running a great restaurant.
12-22-2006 @ 2:38PM
Dr.Will Sawyer said...
It would be beneficial to the public and Taco Bell if they would promote the 4 Principles of Hand Awareness, which have been endorsed by the AMA and AAFP in 2001, all their supliers, employers and their customers. This will help their customers know they are approaching Food Safety a little different to significantly improve results to protect their customers. Visit www.henrythehand.com for more information. Thank you, Dr.Will