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http:// --> Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Local Issues Obituaries Weather Archive Revels Etcetera Backpage Hot Topics Most Viewed Forum Photo Galleries Video Readers Polls O-Zone Online Games Movie Preview Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad Top Galleries: December 16, 2006 Fast food chains react to E. coli outbreak By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings Amelia Wirts | Tidings file photo A refurbished Taco Bell on Ashland Street has seen a slight decline in customers since the E. coli outbreak that hospitalized the chain�s customers in several eastern states. The Taco Bell in Ashland suffered a decrease in business due to the recent outbreak E. coli food poisoning at franchises on the East Coast earlier this month. "It has affected it," a manager at the fast food restaurant on Ashland Street said. He declined to give his name and the owner of the Taco Bell franchise, Jan Sutherland, told him not to comment further. She then asked a reporter to leave the premises, and said her contract with Taco Bell parent company, Yum Brands, prevented her from speaking with the media. In a conference call earlier in the week, Taco Bell CEO Greg Creed said, "Clearly, we have seen sales decline, but [it's] way too early yet for us to say what the financial impact is." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 71 people have been reported ill with E. coli poisoning after eating shredded lettuce at Taco Bells in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and Long Island. 53 people were hospitalized and eight are being treated for kidney failure. An earlier report that stated the infection was caused by green onions was incorrect. On Friday afternoon, Taco Bell customers in Ashland said the news of the outbreak did not affect their dietary decisions. "It doesn't bother me," Hansen Aage said, as he entered the establishment. "I don't worry about those types of things." Vic Linsley said, as he pulled away from the drive-through window, "I thought about it last week but I forgot all about it. Maybe I have too much faith in corporate America, they don't want to get sued." Others were more concerned, but indulged anyway. "Of course you worry about it," Melissa Heidi said. "But it primarily affected the East Coast. I don't eat the lettuce or onions. I'm getting a cheese quesadilla so I should be pretty safe." She added that her fears of food poisoning extends beyond just fast food restaurants. "It's a factor everywhere," she said. "It happened in grocery stores with spinach too." Subway, Ashland's other fast food establishment, is still feeling the effects of the spinach E. coli scare that left more than 200 people sick. "We haven't had spinach for six months," said Karen Snow, a manager at the Subway on Ashland Street. She said the 15 Subway restaurants in the Rogue Valley owned by Dick Hackstedde made a decision not to sell spinach after that E. coli outbreak. "We feel it's a safety issue," snow said. "We don't want to take the chance that our customers could get sick." E. coli, short for Escherichia coli, is a bacteria that lives in the lower intestines of mammals. When high enough levels become prevalent in fecal matter found in the environment, it can cause intestinal and extra-intestinal infections. The bacteria does not have to be directly consumed in some cases, as with the spinach outbreak earlier this year. In that instance the spinach was grown near a factory cow farm. Wendy Siporen, the Executive Director of Thrive, a Rogue Valley organization that advocates for more local food production, said the recent E. coli outbreaks are another reason people should localize their diets. "It points to the problems with industrialized agriculture," she said. "Anytime things are done on such a large scale it's hard to keep track of everything. When everything is mechanized you don't have the farmer walking the fields seeing what is going on." Although E. coli has never been found in a restaurant in Ashland, it is a common occurrence in Ashland Creek. "In our creek what we likely see is from animal waste," said Ashland Public Works Director Paula Brown. "Or it could be from little kids sitting in the water in diapers." Ashland tests water from the creek at the water treatment plant to determine if the level of bacteria is high enough to warrant a public warning. In summer, when the water levels are low and the temperatures are high, there are times that the city does warn people not to swim in the creek because the contamination is at a dangerous level. "No one has ever reported to us that they've gotten sick [in Ashland Creek]," Brown said. "I know people who have got sick on Rogue River rafting trips." Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x. 226 or [email protected] Current Comments: So, Jan Sutherland gags her employee and tells the press to leave. I'd think twice before ordering from a place which doesn't seem too forthcoming about deadly poisoning. Bizarre really, a fast food joint concerned about the bottom line Thomas - Ashland - December 16th, 4:05 PM "She then asked a reporter to leave the premises, and said her contract with Taco Bell parent company, Yum Brands, prevented her from speaking with the media." Funny how the same contract didn't stop her from giving the Tidings an interview when Tacohell re-opened recently. Funny how that works isn't it. Brett G. - Ashland, Oregon - December 16th, 7:58 PM Imagine a taco place where all the food came from local sources. We would then not need to worry about an E. coli outbreak on the East coast, and the owner wouldn't have to be at the beckening of a heartless corporation like Yum Foods. The food would taste better, and the money spent would stay in our community instead of whatever portion is now sucked out. Tom - Ashland, Oregon - December 18th, 4:25 PM Leave a Comment: Advertisement: Advertisement: Paid Advertising: Debt Help Inkjet Printers Payday Loans Free Ringtones Debt Consolidation Security Systems Debt Relief Advertisement: Copyright © 2007 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved. Del.icio.us