By Dan Flynn | January 11, 2013
At least 26 E. coli O157:H7 illnesses in northeastern Canada have now been linked to California-grown lettuce served at KFC and Taco Bell outlets, health officials say.
Dr. Frank Atherton, Nova Scotia’s deputy chief medical officer, on Friday said health officials believe that is the “common source across three provinces” of the outbreak that sickened people beginning in late December.
The E. coli outbreak involves ten confirmed cases in Nova Scotia, six in neighboring New Brunswick, and ten more in Ontario. While the source of the contamination has been found, the cause is another story.
Atherton says some of the KFC/Taco Bell outlets have been inspected, as has their Ontario-based supplier, and no problems have been found. Federal inspectors have been called in to continue the investigation by moving further up the food chain.
San Francisco-based FreshPoint Inc. distributed the California grown lettuce to KFC and Taco Bell in Canada. The grower of the lettuce has not yet been named.
Continue reading, "Canadian E. coli Outbreak Linked to Lettuce Served at KFC, Taco Bell" at Food Safety News.