December 13, 2006
Taco John's, a small Wyoming-based restaurant chain, may be the source of a new E. coli outbreak that has surfaced in the Midwest. An outbreak in the Northeast, reportedly linked to Taco Bell, appears to be contained, at least for now.
Health officials say a suspected E. coli outbreak apparently began in Iowa but quickly widened to Minnesota this week. They say at least 14 cases of gastric illness are linked to restaurants in two towns.
The common thread in the so-far limited outbreak appears to be a produce supplier in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The three restaurants implicated in the outbreak all get their produce from the Cedar Falls supplier, according to a spokesman for Taco John's.
A spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Health's food-borne disease unit says the people who came down with the illness all had meals at the restaurant during late November and early December. That roughly coincides with the time period in which patrons of Taco Bell restaurants in the Northeast got sick.
Midwest health investigators may get little help from the Northeast outbreak as they search for a cause.
Despite Taco Bell's assertion that the source of the E. coli was probably green onions, the Food and Drug Administration said its tests found no traces in the samples it inspected. That means the source of the Taco Bell outbreak, that sickened at least 64 patrons, according to the Centers for Disease Control, remains undetermined at this point.
