Foodborne Illness Outbreaks
Wendy's E. coli Outbreak Traced to Lettuce

by Dan Flynn
Nov 03, 2009, Food Safety News

They do things fast in Canada.

Four people were recently infected with E. coli O157:H7 at the
Fredericton Wendy's near Ontario.

Public health services quickly determined lettuce used before Oct. 27th
was contaminated.

The fast food franchise was given a speedy re-inspection.


A Wendy's senior Vice President flew into town on Halloween to give the
restaurant his rapid once-over.

Finally, the franchise owner urged customers to continue stepping
through the never-closed doors.

Owner Dan Moore said everything was safe, and there were no worries
about eating salads or any other menu item.

The public health service even issued a press release of its own, saying
the Wendy's Fredericton was still open. 


The provincial government does not waste time.



But then on Monday, the restaurants turned away customers for a time
while it did some disinfecting inside and out. They even did it to the
sidewalks. It was all accomplished quickly, very quickly.

The restaurant where the outbreak occurred is located at 967 Prospect
St. in the city of population 85,000.

The Fredericton Wendy's is one of 10,000 restaurants in the combined
Wendy's/Arby's Group, Inc. based in Atlanta. It is the third largest
quick-service restaurant in the U.S. Units are located in the U.S.,
Canada, and 24 other counties and U.S. territories worldwide.