E. coli outbreak linked to California restaurant chain sickens 9
San Francisco Chronicle • • business
Key Points:
- California health officials are investigating an E. coli outbreak linked to ground beef kebabs (beef koftka) from The Kebab Shop restaurant chain, which has sickened nine people across Northern and Southern California between March 27 and April 30.
- Six of the nine affected individuals are children, five have been hospitalized, and two have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a severe complication that can lead to kidney failure; no deaths have been reported.
- The Kebab Shop has paused sales of beef koftka at all locations, and the contaminated beef appears to have been distributed exclusively to this restaurant chain.
- The outbreak involves Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), which can cause severe gastrointestinal symptoms, and health officials advise anyone who consumed the product and develops symptoms to seek medical care promptly.
- The Kebab Shop CEO stated that other proteins sold at the restaurants come from different suppliers and are not linked to the outbreak; the company has also established a hotline for customer inquiries.