A Pennsylvania man who said he became sick after eating a chalupa and a quesadilla at a Taco Bell sued the owner of the Irvine-based restaurant chain Friday, joining what attorneys expect will be a growing wave of legal claims arising from an outbreak of \o7E. coli \f7bacteria.
Taco Bell and parent company Yum Brands Inc. can expect to face more such suits in coming weeks, lawyers say, even as investigators work to pinpoint the source of the bacteria that has sickened at least 62 people in six states.
More immediately, Yum Brands is feeling the financial fallout on Wall Street, as two analysts downgraded its stock, citing the potential effects of customers' food safety concerns. Shares fell $1.36 to $59.72 on Friday. The stock has fallen 5.6% in the last three sessions.
On Friday, a Seattle attorney who specializes in lawsuits over restaurant-caused illness filed a case on behalf of the Pennsylvania man, who said he ate at a Taco Bell restaurant in Gilbertsville, Pa. Another suit, filed Wednesday, seeks damages for an 11-year-old boy who became hospitalized after dining at a Taco Bell in Riverhead, N.Y.
"We have been contacted by almost 20 people, and I am assuming there will be more," said Bill Marler, the Seattle attorney.
Taco Bell reported Wednesday that a preliminary test found a strain of bacteria called \o7E. coli \f7O157:H7 in its green onions, which were grown by Boskovich Farms Inc. of Oxnard. The chain removed the produce from its 5,800 restaurants.
Marler previously sued Boskovich Farms in connection with a 2003 outbreak of hepatitis A also linked to tainted green onions.
But Taco Bell and the Food and Drug Administration are waiting for more conclusive results before fingering green onions as the culprit in the current \o7E. coli \f7cases.
"There is no data to definitely implicate or rule out any particular food item," said Dr. David Acheson, chief medical officer at the agency's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition in College Park, Md.
He said Taco Bell's preliminary test on green onions might be a false positive. Conducting a more accurate test, which includes growing the bacteria and obtaining genetic information on the strain, takes several days.
The FDA also is investigating other fresh produce and cheese that had been consumed by ill patients, Acheson said.
