Health officials are blaming shredded lettuce used at KFC and KFC-Taco Bell restaurants for 26 E. coli outbreaks across Ontario and the Maritimes.
The lettuce, which affected 10 people in Ontario, 10 in Nova Scotia and six in New Brunswick, was distributed by FreshPoint Inc., the Public Health Agency of Canada said in a statement released Friday.
The public health agency said the products were not distributed to grocery stores and because of lettuce’s short shelf life, contaminated products are unlikely to sill be available.
Though the source of contamination has not been determined, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has traced the origin of the lettuce to California. The CFIA said U.S. health officials have been notified.
The public health agency said the majority of the individuals, who became ill between late December and early January, have recovered or are recovering.
An annual average of about 440 cases of E. coli food-borne illnesses have been reported in Canada in recent years, according to the public health agency.
