Business briefs

LOS ANGELES — An E. coli outbreak linked to Taco Bell restaurants left the fast-food chain with a major damage-control challenge Thursday: How can it reassure customers its food is safe even as the suspected cause of the outbreak remained unconfirmed?

The outbreak has left more than four dozen people sick in at least three states. Taco Bell ordered the removal of green onions from its 5,800 restaurants nationwide Wednesday after testing by an independent lab suggested the bacteria may have come from scallions.

Analysts said the Mexican-style restaurant chain is likely to see sales decline in the short term.

"You’ve got a crisis of confidence right now,” said Michael Sitrick, a crisis-management expert. "What they need to do to bring people back in the stores is to assure them that what happened in the past cannot happen in the future.”

Taco Bell, an Irvine, Calif., unit of Yum Brands Inc., told customers that in addition to getting rid of all its green onions, it sanitized the affected restaurants and set up a toll-free number for people to call with concerns.

Paul Argenti, a business professor at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., said Taco Bell appeared to be doing a good job handling the problem.

"When you’re in the middle of it, give people any information that you know, as much as possible,” he said. "Try to be honest and open and transparent.”

Argenti said he believes a television ad campaign to reassure customers is not necessary. Taco Bell has a loyal customer base that "will be looking for a reason to go back,” he said. "Within six months, everything rights itself.”

California stem cell agency president to step down

IRVINE — The president and top scientist at California’s $3 billion stem cell institute said Thursday he would resign from the agency within six months.

Zach Hall made the announcement in Irvine during a meeting of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine’s governing board, called the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee.

Hall, 69, did not give a reason for his departure. He told the committee that he hasn’t fixed a specific date to step down.

Hall, appointed in March 2005, has been the only president the institute has had since its creation in 2004 by passage of Proposition 71. The institute is authorized to dole out $3 billion in research grants and is the biggest financial backer of human embryonic research in the country.

Sony Urban folded into Columbia Records Group

LOS ANGELES — Sony Urban Music, a record label that catered to R&B and hip-hop fans, has been folded into Columbia Records Group in the latest internal reorganization this year at label parent Sony Music BMG Entertainment.

The consolidation of the two Sony BMG labels had been the subject of speculation in recent weeks. Sony Music Label Group President Rob Stringer notified employees on Thursday.

"With the integration of Sony Urban Music and Columbia Records it puts the artist roster in a position of strength under one umbrella,” Stringer wrote in an e-mail to employees.

"We remain firmly committed to signing and breaking artists in the R&B, Hip Hop and Gospel genres.”

The memo also noted Sony Urban’s president, Lisa Ellis, was named executive vice president of Sony Music Label Group, which had included Sony Urban Music among its labels.