During the investigation of an E. coli outbreak which stemmed from a Taco Bell supplier’s green onions, Sodexho Campus Services has closed its Taco Bell Express in the New University Union as a precaution.
“Our decision was to be proactive,” said Bob Griffin, Sodexho’s marketing director at Binghamton University. The bacteria were first discovered in patients on Nov. 20 in Nassau and Suffolk counties in New York and in northern New Jersey, but were also later reported in Pennsylvania and Delaware.
Students working at BU’s Taco Bell location still have work, though. “We won’t lay anyone off,” said Griffin.
The number of people sickened on Long Island rose throughout the week, to 41 as of Thursday, according to Newsday.
The Centers for Disease Control said 20 cases associated with Taco Bell’s green onions have been found in New Jersey, seven in Pennsylvania and one in Delaware. Symptoms of an E. coli infection are diarrhea — usually bloody — and severe abdominal cramps.
Broome County Environmental Health Services is aware of the outbreak, but has not seen any contamination here. “We haven’t received any calls locally concerning the outbreak,” said Diane O’Hara, supervising public health educator at Environmental Health Services. “We have surveillance in place to see if anyone has symptoms similar to E. coli.”
O’Hara added that her department has a good relationship with local hospitals and keeps daily contact with them to make sure that no outbreaks have occurred.
Since the incidents, Taco Bell has ordered the green onion supply to be removed from all of its estimated 5,800 locations nationwide, according to a corporate press release.
As a result of the infections, some Taco Bell locations on Long Island, northern New Jersey and the Philadelphia area have been closed. According to a statement by Taco Bell, some on Long Island have been re-opened after clean up. Preliminary tests have linked the store’s green onions to E. coli, but conclusive tests are not yet available as of Thursday night.
But for BU’s own Taco Bell outlet, Griffin said, “I would like to set a timetable [to reopen]. I just can’t.” So far, no locations in upstate New York have been affected by the outbreak.
A Taco Bell franchise, located at 2507 Vestal Parkway East, has stopped serving the green onions, but remains open according to Angela Giova, assistant manager at that location. Giova said the stores have been told to refer all further media inquiries to a hotline set up for the outbreak, (800)-TACOBELL.
In September, spinach grown in California was removed from shelves as incidents of E. coli accumulated. The supplier of Taco Bell’s onions, Ready Pac, was one of the same companies whose spinach was recalled in September, according to The Associated Press.