Taco Bell says food is safe, E. coli source unknown

LOS ANGELES, Dec 12 (Reuters) Taco Bell Corp., a unit of Yum Brands Inc. , repeated that its food is safe and that it has changed its produce supplier for New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware as a precautionary measure after an outbreak of E. coli bacteria was tied to its restaurants in those states.

The US Food and Drug Administration said on Monday that green onions previously thought to be positive for the bacteria have now been confirmed as negative.

''Since the independent scientific laboratory tests on all of our ingredients have concluded negative for E. coli, we have no information regarding any Taco Bell ingredient linked to this outbreak,'' said Greg Creed, Taco Bell's president, said in a statement.

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