In an email message sent just moments ago, Kristen Nordlund of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that Taco Bell is the national fast food Mexican style restaurant chain associated with Salmonella illnesses in 21 states.
Nordlund's email was in reply to my request for confirmation of a report that I received from Gordon MacCracken of the Washington State Department of Health, who named Taco Bell as the restaurant chain identified by that state's sole outbreak victim.
Taco Bell is a national Mexican-style fast food restaurant chain that is part of the Yum! Brands family. Other Yum! restaurant chains include KFC, Pizza Hut, A&W and Long John Silver. No other Yum! restaurant chain has been implicated in this Salmonella outbreak.
CDC reported last evening that 21 states had registered a total of 155 cases of salmonellosis. More than 60% of the people interviewed had eaten at "Restaurant Chain A" – now identified as Taco Bell. Seventy-five of the outbreak victims were infected with Salmonella Hartford; eighty with Salmonella Baildon. No single food or ingredient has been determined to be responsible for the outbreak.
In addition to the 155 confirmed illnesses, other suspect cases are still under investigation in Kentucky, according to information provided to eFoodAlert by a state spokesperson. Eleven of the 28 Kentucky outbreak victims were hospitalized.
Please refer to my post of this morning for more details on the outbreak investigation.
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My Pizza Hut delivery guy here in the Southwest
ReplyDeletejust told me that Pizza Hut is no longer part of Yum, but has been franchised out. Could be just here or nationally; I don't know. Anyway, no produce on my pizza, and thank you for information!
@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteCheck out www.yum.com and you'll see the brands that are gathered under the Yum! umbrella - including Pizza Hut. Franchisees are pretty much controlled by the corporate parent, and are tied to specific suppliers, etc. Similar situation to McDonalds and many other large fast-food restaurant chains. Individual outlets often "owned" by the franchisee, but the brand is owned by the corporation.
Phyllis
@anonymous- remember salomonella is a result from the bacteria in animals intestines that gets processed in meat by feces. there is no way around it. for some reason people think produce is the cause but it's really odd because it comes from meat processing. avoiding produced handled by outbreaks in meat is necessary but the source is indeed meat.
ReplyDelete