Taco Johns E. Coli Came from Waste Water
February 28th, 2008 joshua
Wastewater from a dairy farm may have led to a 2006 E. coli outbreak, linked to iceberg lettuce used in food sold at Taco John’s stores in Iowa and Minnesota.
The 2006 outbreak sickened 80 people, according to a report from the Food and Drug Administration and the California Department of Health. The lettuce was linked to a Minnesota distributor, which got the product from growing fields in California.
Extensive sampling narrowed the outbreak to a pair of ranches in California. Of samples taken from the field, the specific E. coli strain was matched to a pair of dairies near the lettuce fields.
Investigators found several confluence points between the local water district’s system and those of the ranch and two dairy operations. Dairy wastewater blended with the distribution system used at the produce ranch, contaminating the lettuce.












