Green Onions and E. Coli?

Ready Pac, supplier of green onions to Taco Bell, has stopped all shipments following a preliminary and inconclusive test for E. coli O157:H7, which Taco Bell conducted. Taco Bell also removed green onions from its restaurants. This action follows more than 60 cases of sickness reported in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

According to Ready Pac’s VP marketing, Steve Dickstein, green onions are produced in a limited production run exclusively for Taco Bell in one section of Ready Pac’s Florence, NJ, plant. “All raw and processed green onions have been removed from the plant as part of our precautionary measures.”

FDA has been working with state authorities, CDC, Taco Bell, Ready Pac and other distributors to help determine a source. In view of the inconclusive testing so far, FDA is exploring other potential sources of contamination. These include cilantro, cheddar cheese, blended cheese, yellow onions, tomatoes and lettuce.

According to an updated report from CDC, samples of the green onions obtained by the restaurant chain tested negative for E. coli O157. In addition, no other food item has a definite or preliminary test indicating the presence of E. coli O157.

To be safe, Taco Bell has switched its produce supplier in the affected states. FDA is also working with CDC and Taco Bell Corp. and its suppliers and distributors to obtain any further relevant information on sources and distribution.

Ben & Jerry's debuts new eco-friendly carton



Beginning with its top-selling flavor, World's Best Vanilla, Ben & Jerry's converted its familiar pint-sized cartons of ice cream to environmentally friendly unbleached brown (kraft) paperboard. "We're hoping what we call the 'ECO-Pint' will become the new industry standard for ice cream containers," said Andrea Asch, manager of natural resource use at Ben & Jerry's.

According to Asch, the traditional method of making bleached paperboard uses chlorine as a bleaching agent. "In the process of using that type of bleaching, the water from the mills that is discharged into the waste stream includes a slew of different chemicals, including dioxins," Asch said. The EPA has identified dioxin as a carcinogen and highly toxic.

The search for unbleached packaging material that meets environmental, commercial and FDA standards led the Vermont-based company to paperboard supplier Riverwood International. "This technology had never before been adapted to ice cream pint containers," said Michael Brink, manager of packaging development at Ben & Jerry's. "Just being able to fabricate [the paperboard] in round, precise dimensions posed unique challenges for our manufacturing team."

While Riverwood supplies the paperboard, Sweetheart Cup Co. forms and prints the ECO-Pints. The open teamwork between the two suppliers and Ben & Jerry's led to the successful development of the container, Asch said. "Riverwood and Sweetheart worked very hard to deal with the special characteristics of the kraft paperboard, which has a lot of longer fibers in it that makes it more challenging to curl," Asch said.

The World's Best Vanilla flavor in the new ECO-Pints is currently in the market. "Our anticipation is that one-third of the line will be transitioned by the end of this year, with the remaining [to be converted] next year," Asch said. Although Ben & Jerry's half-gallon, gallon, half-liters for the European market and 130ml sizes for the Asian market have not yet been converted, the company would like to see those sizes switch to the new unbleached paperboard packaging as well, noted Asch.