Costco VP names Taylor Farms in chicken salad E. coli outbreak

Five people have been hospitalized, including two who suffered hemolytic-uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure.

WRAL.com reports that the strain of E. Coli linked to Costco chicken salad is more likely to be life-threatening than a recent foodborne illness that led to the closure of some Chipotle restaurants in the Northwest.

The current strain linked to Costco has been identified as E. coli 157, which the CDC said is more likely to be more harmful, especially in young children.

Costco has stopped making its rotisserie chicken salad.

The four Coloradans who were confirmed to be infected with E.coli from Costco chicken salad have recovered, the state Department of Public Health and Environment said Wednesday. “Even if some of the rotisserie chicken salad has been eaten and no one has gotten sick, throw the rest of the product away”. Ill people range in age from 5 years to 84, with a median age of 18.

Costco vice president responsible for food safety Craig Wilson said there is no problem with the retailer’s rotisserie chickens which it continues to sell.

Costco only has one supplier for those vegetables in the chicken salad, which is sold in all its USA stores, Wilson said, adding that the supplier is Taylor Farms of Salinas, CA.

Reportedly, 19 people were ill after an E-coli outbreak at Costco stores.

In Washington D.C., the E. coli case was reportedly to be “not as serious”. The Montana Department of Health says the state has been hit hard in the outbreak, with six people ill and two of them hospitalized.

All 19 patients have the same strain of E. coli bacteria, discovered through DNA fingerprinting, called pulsed field-gel electrophoresis. The Mexican food Chain Chipotle voluntary closed down 43 restaurants in Washington and OR after more than 40 people got sick from the illness after eating in one of the restaurants.

Symptoms associated with this strain of E.coli include diarrhea and abdominal cramps. The CDC issued a warning to Costco customers encouraging them to throw out any of the store’s chicken salad.