Taco Bell said it made the decision after samples of green onions from its restaurants were found to contain traces of the bacteria, which caused dozens of patrons to fall ill and forced the chain to temporarily close nine of its restaurants.
Although the laboratory results on the green onions were not conclusive, the fast food chain decided to stop serving green onions as a precautionary move.
Greg Creed, president of California based Taco Bell-a subsidiary of Yum! Brands Inc.-tells the AP, "In an abundance of caution, we've decided to pull all green onions from our restaurants until we know conclusively whether they are the cause of the E.coli outbreak."
According to the report, E. coli, or Escherichia coli, is a common and ordinarily harmless bacteria, but certain virulent strains can cause abdominal cramps, fever, bloody diarrhea, kidney failure, blindness, paralysis, and death.
