A new lawsuit has been filed against Taco Bell restaurant just months after the company settled a series of lawsuits out of court following a 1995 hepatitis outbreak.
In the suit, filed Wednesday in 3rd District Court, an anonymous couple and their 10-year-old son allege the boy found feces in a soft-shelled taco bought at a drive-up window at the Cottonwood Heights Taco Bell, 1962 E. Fort Union Blvd. (7000 South).On June 29, the boy's mother bought a taco meal at the restaurant and brought it home for her son to eat. The boy had eaten one taco and most of a second one when he found a "blob of excrement" about the size of a "smashed junior mint" among pieces of food that had fallen on the wrapper, said Tad Draper, the family's attorney.
The boy "became violently ill when he discovered the taco to contain feces, and vomited," the lawsuit states.
A Salt Lake City-County Health Department investigation confirmed the specimen was fecal matter but did not determine whether it was human.
"The lab results showed the fecal matter had no trace of any food on it," said Jana Carlson-Kettering, Health Department public information officer. "We cannot prove that any feces was found in a taco. The only thing that was submitted to us was some fecal matter in bag."
Draper said the remains of the half-eaten taco, along with two other unopened tacos, were also submitted for inspection but found uncontaminated.
Although the boy has not been diagnosed with any disease, he had "gastrointestinal problems, diarrhea and other related illnesses" within 48 hours that the feces was found, the lawsuit states. He "also continues to have psychological and behavioral reactions to the traumatic event."
The feces was tested and found negative for any of the pathogens commonly transmitted through feces, Carlson-Kettering said. The day after the feces was found, the Health Department inspected the restaurant in question and found it in "excellent" condition.
Taco Bell also conducted an investigation of the matter but failed to find a source for the feces, said spokeswoman Amy Sherwood from the company headquarters in Irvine, Calif.
"Taco Bell takes all claims about its food very seriously. We cooperated fully with the Health Department," Sherwood said.
She pointed out the feces was not actually found in the restaurant or inside the taco. Teeth marks were not found on the specimen, she said.
Carlson-Kettering said this incident appears to be an isolated case with no link to a hepatitis A outbreak in early 1995 when three Taco Bell employees tested positive for hepatitis A in December 1994 and January 1995.
"There are not enough facts presented to us for the health department to confirm that this stool came from a taco bought at this location or any location for that fact," Carlson-Kettering said. "We don't feel there is a public health threat."
The Salt Lake County Attorney's Office conducted a criminal investigation that yielded "no firm conclusions," said Deputy County At-tor-ney Kevin Smith.
"Our intent was to determine who did it and why," Smith said.
However, the case has now been deemed inactive until further leads develop or the civil lawsuit reaches a resolution, he said.
The lawsuit, which names Taco Bell Corp. and 12 John Does, seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.