I asked our AI friends – What are the pros and cons of replacing FDA Commissioner Makary with me – here is the response? This is a very timely question — Makary resigned as FDA Commissioner today, May 12, 2026, amid reports of internal tensions and policy clashes, with the vaping dispute reportedly being a […]
Henry Jackson – Associated Press Des Moines, Iowa Not suprisingly, health officials in Iowa and Minnesota on Wednesday confirmed a link between E. coli outbreaks at Taco John’s restaurants that have sickened dozens of customers. Officials also said that the cause of the outbreak – which has sickened at least 50 people in Iowa and […]
According to press reports from Minneapolis, 14 illnesses now have been linked to E. coli contamination at Taco John’s restaurants in southeast Minnesota, according to the Minnesota Health Department. Several of those ill have suffered Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome – acute kidney failure. Lab tests have confirmed five cases, and nine more are suspected. Seven are […]
Karen Robinson-Jacobs of the Dallas Morning News wrote an interesting article for Wednesday’s morning paper – a few excerpts: Faced with several high-profile cases of tainted food in recent months, the largest restaurant trade group vowed Tuesday to “raise the bar” on food safety. The group’s comments came as authorities are investigating how at least […]
We were recently contacted by an Iowa resident who appears to have contracted E. coli O157:H7 (E. coli) after eating at Taco John’s in Cedar Falls, Iowa. At last count, nearly three dozen people have fallen ill with E. coli infections after eating at the Ceder Falls Taco John’s restaurant and one in Albert Lea, […]
According to the Washington Post this morning, “authorities in three states are investigating hundreds more cases of food poisoning in the northeastern United States, and federal investigators said yesterday that their prime suspect, green onions, may not have caused the outbreak.” What is important is the MAY – although the FDA did not find E. […]
Cedar Falls, IA — Officials in Cedar Falls, Iowa say an E. coli outbreak at the Taco Johns has made more than two dozen people sick with at least 14 hospitalized. This after Taco Bell pulled green onions from thousands of its restaurants after people in several states were sickened by E. coli. And two […]
September was “Food Safety Month.” During September and the ensuing two months there have been at least four reported bacterial outbreaks tied to produce. The bacteria have been the deadly E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella. The produce: spinach, tomatoes and now green onions. First it was announced that over 200 people were sickened, many with acute kidney failure, and […]
Op-ed December 9, 2006 In an opinion piece this morning entitled “Sickened by Fresh Produce” the Editorial Page of the New York Times has weighed into the produce fields and found them contaminated too often with E. coli O157:H7. “The expanding outbreak of E. coli poisonings in New York, New Jersey and several other states […]
2000 TACO BELL HEPATITIS A OUTBREAK TIED TO GREEN ONIONS In early December, 2000, Lake County Florida Health Department (LCHD) learned of seven hepatitis A cases, including five hospitalizations, in Lake and neighboring Sumter Counties in a two week span. During the previous two years, the total number of known hepatitis A cases in Lake […]
Taco Bell, Distributor Probed by Federal Regulators According to a Bloomberg report, Yum! Brands Inc.’s Taco Bell chain and a supplier are being probed by state and federal regulators after an outbreak of E. coli sickened dozens of people and the chain closed 18 restaurants. What makes this interesting is that Green Onions may be […]
The distributor, Texas-based McLane Co., said Taco Bell representatives and state and federal health inspectors toured the distribution center in Burlington, N.J., that supplied the eight Long Island restaurants and the three in New Jersey. Question, did it also distribute to Pennsylvania?
Food Inspectors Crack Down On Illegal Cuisine – Some Markets Get Foods From Unregulated Sources CBS and the Associated Press report that when a food safety inspector walked into a market in Queens, he noticed the store had an interesting special posted on its front window: 12 beefy armadillos. In Brooklyn, inspectors found 15 pounds […]
According to Syracuse (WSYR-TV), the Onondaga County Health Department now says more than 600 people have reported getting sick after eating at the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que restaurant last weekend. The owner of the popular restaurant in downtown Syracuse agreed Thursday, to close the business through this weekend while the health department investigates. The restaurant’s owner, John […]
A source close to the spinach industry and agricultural politics told me a few interesting facts today: 1. Spinach Farmers and others businesses hurt financially by the recent spinach recall are considering asking for Federal or State relief along the lines that the airline industry did following 911. My reaction – shame, shame, shame. Not […]
In today’s Washington Post it was reported that a state legislator from Fairfax County said that she plans to introduce a bill that would allow homeless shelters in Virginia to serve home-cooked food. The proposal from Del. Kristen J. Amundson (D-Fairfax) followed a Health Department decision to crack down on the use of such food […]