Will Taco Bell Survive Its E. Coli Scare?

I may be hard pressed to name the plase I enjoyed my favorite pizza or who serves up the best hamburgers, but everyone remembers places where disasters took place when it came to food. For example, I bet you remember Jack in the Box's E. Coli scare in 1993 that killed three and almost took out the entire chain. Here it is, 13 years later, and we still remember. Some how that chain was able to survive (and even thrive) after this disaster (which I will discuss later), but that is often the exception and not the rule.

Now Taco Bell is in a similar situation. I think about the Taco Bell a couple of miles from my home. My kids who can drive have been read the riot act -- don't go near "the border" until further notice. All the Taco Bells are interconnected in their distribution channels. The ones on the east coast that carried E. Coli were due to sources that are found in the west coast. It seems fairly safe to assume that the restaurants here may have been affected as well (0r at least I should be concerned of such).

How does Taco Bell make sure it doesn't face a certain doom? It won't be easy. Jack in the Box turned it around by being sincerely mortified, by quickly owning responsibility, and by instituting some of the most impressive quality control systems for food in the country. Within a few years of its outbreak, it enjoyed pre-E. Coli sales levels. Taco Bell is going to have to be similarly aggressive and equally compassionate if it wants to turn this disaster around. According to news accounts I saw, some of the suspected restaurants waited until the end of the business day to close after it was informed it had to so so for safety purposes. If I were handling their PR, I would had them take immediate action. Taco Bell's approach did not convey the message the chain wants to send, in my opinion.