Pizza Ranch desserts have been linked to E. coli food poisonings in nine states, federal officials say.
The outbreak started in December, mainly among people who had eaten at the Iowa-based chain’s restaurants, according to Brittany Behm, a spokeswoman for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Behm said Wednesday that 13 people, including one Iowan, were sickened. Nine of the people said they recently had eaten at Pizza Ranches, she said. Two children, in Kansas and Nebraska, suffered kidney failure and had to be hospitalized. They have since recovered, Behm said. None of the patients died.
Pizza Ranch cooperated with the investigation, which wound up focusing on a dry dough mix used to make desserts, Behm said. No bacteria were found in remaining samples of the dough mix, but the outbreak ended after the company stopped using the mix and a similar product by early February, she said.
