An outbreak of E.coli has infected 90 people across 13 states, as announced by the FDA on October 22nd. The outbreak has been connected to the McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburger. FDA officials say that the outbreak likely stemmed from the onions that McDonald’s uses in their products.
According to FDA investigators, the outbreak started in Colorado and has slowly started to spread across the Midwest. States as far east as Michigan and Wisconsin have reported cases of E.coli.
Of the ninety reported cases of E.coli, 27 people have been admitted to the hospital due to complications with E. Coli. Of the 27 admitted to the hospital, one man has died. The cases of E.coli are concentrated in the Midwest, with over 50% of cases occurring in Colorado and Montana alone.
The individuals hospitalized from the outbreak included a wide variety of people. People as young as 15 and as old as 80 have reported cases. Kamberlyn Bowler, a 15-year-old high school student from Grand Junction, Colorado, recounted her symptoms in an interview with NBC News.
“(My mom and I) both kind of thought I just had a fever, like just the flu or something — a stomach bug. But then I started throwing up, having diarrhea, and it was bloody, so it scared me,” Bowler said.
Bowler was diagnosed with enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a condition where E.coli bacteria attack the kidneys. Doctors say that the extent of the damage is unknown, but are also sure that there will be permanent damage. Bowler, along with 33 others, have filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s.
Investigators initially hypothesized that the outbreak is linked to either McDonald’s beef patties or the onions McDonald’s uses. McDonald’s responded by saying that they have multiple beef suppliers for their midwest restaurants; however, a large portion of McDonald’s in the midwest share a common onion supplier. McDonald’s onion supplier has been identified as Taylor Farms, a large-scale vegetable processing company.
Taylor Farms also supplies onions to many popular fast food chains, such as Taco Bell, Burger King, and KFC. In a statement provided to the CDC, Taylor Farms denied any contamination, stating that they conducted tests on "raw and finished" onion products and "found no traces of E. coli".
Despite the claim made by Taylor Farms, McDonald’s temporarily removed the Quarter Pounder and all products containing onions from nearly 20% of their restaurants. Other hamburger items were not affected.
“The quarter-pounder is a staple of McDonalds. It’s a shame that they’ll have to remove it, even if it is just temporarily,” NHS senior Daniella Crisci said.
Yum! Brands, the fast food firm that oversees franchises such as Burger King, Taco Bell, and KFC, have monitored the outbreak. About 5% of Yum! Brands restaurants receive onions from Taylor Farms. Similar to McDonald’s, Yum! Brands have recalled many of their products containing onions. Despite the possibility of contamination, there have been no reported cases of people getting sick after eating at any other fast food chain besides McDonald’s.
On October 31, FDA officials announced that the current risk of E.coli transmission is “low because the onions have been recalled and should no longer be available.”
The FDA and McDonald’s have confirmed that the beef patties are not the cause of the E. coli outbreak. As a result, McDonald’s has announced that products with beef patties, including the Quarter Pounder, will be returning to the menu in the next couple of days.
However, the investigation remains ongoing. "The FDA is continuing its investigation into Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility," Cesar Piña, the SVP, chief supply chain officer at McDonald's, posted on the company’s website.
"As a reminder, McDonald’s removed slivered onions from this facility from our supply chain on October 22 and shared that we had decided to stop sourcing onions from Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility indefinitely. Over the past few days, you’ve likely seen that additional food service providers and restaurant brands that received onions from this facility have moved to stop selling and/or recall onions," McDonald’s Chief Supply Chain Officer Cesar Piña said.
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