Several Taco Bell restaurants across Long Island were closed last week after an outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7 spread from Delaware to Suffolk over the course of the past week. Last week, six Taco Bell restaurants within the county were asked to voluntarily close down, discard their food and disinfect their premises. They include the Broadway and Roosevelt Field Mall restaurants as well as the East Meadow, Hempstead, Seaford and New Hyde Park locations.

As of press time, the Nassau County Department of Health received reports of nearly 75 Nassau County residents who became ill after eating at Taco Bell restaurants. Included are eight people hospitalized, three with confirmed cases of E. coli.

According to the Irvine, CA-based Taco Bell's company website, independent scientific laboratory test results of more than 150 samples of all the ingredients served in Taco Bell restaurants concluded that no ingredient contained the E. coli bacteria. Samples from the entire menu were collected for testing from multiple restaurants in multiple states for testing by Certified Laboratories in Plainview.

Earlier preliminary test results of green onions were "presumptive positive" for E. coli, which prompted the company to immediately remove them from its 5,800 restaurants as a precautionary move. It has no plans to sell green onions again.

"We've taken this health issue very seriously and are extremely concerned for all those who are ill. Our company has moved quickly to safeguard the health of our customers and employees," stated Taco Bell's President Greg Creed on the company's website. "Based on our independent testing and all that we know today, I can reassure you that every Taco Bell is safe and strict standards are being upheld at all of our restaurants. We will be working quickly to reopen our closed restaurants to serve our customers."

The company also switched produce suppliers in the region even though it has no indication they were associated with the illness. "We are not willing to take any risk with the public's safety," stated Creed.

According to Creed, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) are continuing their investigation and Taco Bell will continue to fully cooperate. "After removing green onions from our restaurants, we believe that all of our other ingredients are perfectly safe based on our test results. We've been working around the clock, 24/7, with the FDA, CDC and local, state and federal health authorities to get to the root cause of this issue. It's important to note that about half of the U.S. adult population eats at Taco Bell at least once a month, so it's easy to understand how we might be considered associated with this illness," he said.

E. coli 0157:H7 is a leading cause of foodborne illness and is often characterized by bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramps and little or no fever. People become infected in a variety of ways, especially by eating undercooked ground beef or contaminated fresh vegetables. Symptoms usually appear about three days after exposure, but can emerge anywhere from one to nine days.

Most people recover without specific treatment in five to 10 days. However, young children and the elderly may be at increased risk of developing hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, a serious condition characterized by red blood cell destruction and kidney failure, that can result in death. Those who may be experiencing any symptoms of E. coli 0157:H7 infection should immediately seek medical care.

"We are taking every possible step to protect and inform the public as quickly as information becomes available," said County Executive Tom Suozzi during a press conference Dec. 6. "The county's health department has been inspecting the Taco Bell locations suspected of being involved in this outbreak and are making sure the proper procedures are being followed before they reopen." He added, "We are continuing to work closely with the New York State Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, Suffolk County and Taco Bell to closely monitor the situation."

Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy, in a prepared statement, said that this recent E. coli scare "must serve as a wakeup call to Congress to increase the oversight and funding for the responsible agencies. Federal efforts to monitor our nation's food supply have been hampered by jurisdictional restrictions and decreased funding for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the agency responsible for monitoring and testing non-meat food products. The reduction in funding for the FDA has caused 25 percent fewer on-site inspections of agricultural processors in 2006."

She continued, "Both the House and the Senate have introduced measures that will increase the safety of our food supply. I am a co-sponsor of HR 1507, the Safe Food Act, which will coordinate the federal inspection of food products. I will continue to monitor the situation and press for legislation that will fully fund the FDA and properly protect American consumers from contaminated food products."

Anyone who has come down with symptoms on or after Nov. 15 and who ate at a Taco Bell, should call the Nassau County Department of Health at 571-3680.