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Taco John's E.Coli Outbreak Linked to California Ranch

By Pritzker | Ruohonen

A 16-month investigation by the California Department of Public Health’s Food and Drug Branch and the FDA has concluded that an E. coli outbreak in 2006 is linked to Wegis Ranch in Buttonwillow, California.  The E. coli was found in iceberg lettuce that was served at Taco John’s restaurants and sickened 81 people in Iowa and Minnesota. We represent victims of this outbreak.

According to The Bakersfield Californian,

The report does not definitively state how the lettuce was contaminated but said water contaminated by manure from two nearby dairies could be a possible source.

Wegis Ranch uses manure water to irrigate some fields where animal feed is grown, according to the report. It said lettuce linked to the E. coli outbreak was grown directly across from two of those fields.

In addition, the ranch’s irrigation system may have allowed manure water to taint freshwater used to irrigate fields where lettuce was grown, the report concluded.

E.coli samples from the ranch and dairies genetically matched the strain found in the tainted lettuce. The dairies were Maya and West Star North.

California State Senator Dean Florez said, “This latest report tells us once again that our food safety system is dysfunctional.”  The report will also be brought before the Senate Select Committee on Food-Borne Illness. California has already instituted the practice of self-regulated safety measures in farms, which include the banning of growing leafy greens close to animal facilities.  The Wegis Ranch lettuce was grown before these measures took effect, and the ranch has since stopped growing lettuce.

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on February 26, 2008 (boomark / email).