The green onions suspected of triggering an E. coli outbreak at Taco Bell restaurants in the United States came from a southern California grower, company officials said Thursday.

Steve Dickstein, marketing vice president for Ready Pac Produce, said it was the sole supplier of green onions to the fast-food chain. He said the company has halted processing of scallions at its New Jersey plant.

In September, Ready Pac pulled its bagged spinach from the shelves when U.S. investigators traced a nationwide E. coli outbreak to a San Juan Bautista processing plant. The outbreak sickened 200 people, including a person in Canada, and killed three people in the United States.

Taco Bell Canada is voluntarily removing green onions from all of its 182 restaurants following an E. coli outbreak in the United States that has made at least 46 people sick. No associated incidents of illness have occurred in Canada.

Officials with the Canadian branch of the fast-food chain said Wednesday evening that it was taking the precaution after learning that some of its outlets relied on supply sources similar to those restaurants linked to the outbreak in the United States.

"As a precautionary voluntary measure, we have made the decision to take immediate action and remove green onions from all our restaurants in Canada until  we know conclusively the root cause of the E. coli outbreak in the U.S.," said Jon Prinsell, the president of Yum! Canada, which operates Taco Bell Canada.

"We are working closely with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency throughout this investigation," he said in a release.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday that it is collecting samples of all non-meat items served in the restaurants, including cilantro, cheddar cheese, blended cheese, green onions, yellow onions, tomatoes and lettuce.

Confirmed cases reported

Confirmed cases of illness linked to Taco Bell have been reported in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The FDA said it was also investigating potential cases in Delaware and Connecticut.

Taco Bell has also closed 15 restaurants in Philadelphia on the recommendation of the city's Department of Public Health. Two restaurants on New York's Long Island and an outlet in South Plainfield, N.J., remained closed to be cleaned up.

Five people are in hospital, including an 11-year-old boy in stable condition with kidney damage. Attorneys for the boy's family filed suit Wednesday, claiming that the restaurant's negligence led to the E. coli outbreak.

State health officials said they believe the danger of infection has passed, given that the most recent case of E. coli was reported on Nov. 29.

E. coli stands for Escherichia coli, a bacterium commonly found in the intestines of animals and humans, as well as in undercooked meat, sprouts and leafy vegetables. It can cause abdominal cramps, fever, bloody diarrhea, kidney failure, paralysis and death.

 

With files from the Associated Press