Amid national reports of E. coli contamination, the manager of a Santa Clarita Valley restaurant that’s part of the impacted chain said he’s not aware of any local cases.
The Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service warned the public about an E. coli contamination stemming from beef kofta products that’s been reported at The Kebab Shop locations in California.
The manager for the Golden Valley Road location — one of nine in the Los Angeles area that were listed under the alert — said no cases have been reported to his location.
“I haven’t gotten a complaint,” said Ronald Guzman, manager of the Golden Valley location, the only one in the SCV, during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon. He mentioned that there’s also a phone number for the corporate office that’s been set up in case anyone might be sick.
A representative for The Kebab Shop at the hotline created for the incident said the information regarding which locations had confirmed outbreaks was not immediately available. A representative from the FSISI did not immediately return an email Wednesday afternoon.
The issue was described as “part of an ongoing illness outbreak investigation,” according to a statement posted online by FSIS officials.
The notice said the concern stemmed from a seasoned ground-meat dish, which was made by Olympia Food Industries, a company that calls itself a “global leader in Mediterranean food manufacturing,” on its website.
The beef contained “Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) O157:H7,” per the Department of Agriculture’s notice, which also stated “a recall was not requested because the products are no longer available for purchase.”
This particular strain of E. coli is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause dehydration, bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps for up to eight days after exposure, and three to four days on average, according to the California Department of Public Health website. While most people recover within a week, some develop a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome.
The state’s Public Health indicated, “As of May 19, nine California residents have been infected with the outbreak strain of STEC O157:H7. Illness onset dates range from March 27 through April 30. Six illnesses are in children. Five individuals have been hospitalized, and two have developed HUS. No deaths have been reported. No individuals from other states are currently linked to this outbreak.”
The Kebab Shop also has locations in Florida and Texas.
The Golden Valley Road location, which advertised its “soft launch” in June 2024 on social media, was last inspected twice in February of this year.
The restaurant earned a 92, which is an “A,” during its most recent “routine inspection” in February, according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health. There were four violations found — the only one in the “major” category referred to “proper hot and cold holding temperatures.” There were no violations on the follow-up two weeks later.
The business put a notice to the public on its website Sunday to alert customers to the concern.
“This came after USDA obtained positive testing results for E. coli of the raw ground beef kofta supplied by Olympia Foods to The Kebab Shop (‘TKS’),” according to the restaurant’s statement. “Olympia Foods is no longer a supplier to TKS.”
Anyone concerned that they might be impacted by the outbreak can call 888-965-5821 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. or email [email protected].
