Taco Bell turns onto 'recovery' road

By Bruce Horovitz, USA TODAY

About 1 in 3 frequent fast-food customers say they plan to eat less often at Taco Bell - or not at all - as a result of the chain's recent E. coli outbreak, according to a national poll done for USA TODAY.

Yet the online poll, by food service research firm Sandelman & Associates, shows fast-food eaters are satisfied with how Taco Bell (YUM) handled the crisis in which 71 people fell ill after eating at the Mexican-style chain. Seventy-five percent of those surveyed rate Taco Bell's actions after the outbreak as "good," "very good" or "excellent."

"It's clearly affecting their business," says Bob Sandelman, CEO of the research firm. "But Taco Bell appears to be on the road to recovery."

Other chains, including McDonald's and Burger King, were affected to a lesser degree by E. coli outbreaks.

The poll of 311 people who eat fast food at least once a month - and were aware of the E. coli at fast-food chains - was conducted Dec. 15-18. It noted that federal health officials suspect lettuce as the probable cause of the outbreaks at Taco Bell and that the outbreaks had been limited to four states, with no cases reported since Dec. 3.

About 8 in 10 fast-food eaters polled by Sandelman said they'd continue to visit other fast-food chains at least as often as they did before the scare.

Taco Bell President Greg Creed declined in a phone interview to comment on Sandelman's findings.

He said Taco Bell has been doing its own polling since the outbreak and that 94% of people who describe themselves as Taco Bell eaters have a "positive" view of the brand; 82% believe the food is "safe."

"Given the publicity in the marketplace, these are very good numbers," Creed says. Taco Bell's national online survey of 400 people was done Dec. 15.

Still, the Sandelman poll found that 36% of Taco Bell's best customers - those who eat there once a month or even daily - say that after the recent illnesses, they now eat at Taco Bell less often, or not at all.

"It's still a raw issue because it's still in the news," Sandelman says. But he adds that consumer concerns will fade over time, or even disappear, once the cause of the outbreak is pinpointed.

Creed won't discuss sales until parent Yum Brands reports quarterly earnings in February. But, he says, "Over the last few days, sales have started to recover."

"This is a bigger issue than Taco Bell," Creed says. It's an ingredient issue, he says, and Taco Bell will seek better industry testing in the field, "before it comes to our restaurant." The outbreak could have happened to anyone, he says. "It's not like we did anything wrong."