Would you like your Mcdonald’s Quarter Pounder with a side of fries, a drink, and maybe E. coli?
Recently, it has been discovered that an outbreak of E. coli, a group of bacteria that cause infections in various parts of the body, has come from a McDonalds’ special, its Quarter Pounder. More specifically, it isn’t the whole burger itself, but the onions on the burger.
However, is the outbreak of E. coli solely the fault of McDonalds? The local news recently did a piece on this outbreak and mentioned that the fast-food restaurant gets its onions from an American based sliced vegetable and fruit producer‒Taylor Farms. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has launched an investigation into Taylor Farms after multiple individuals became hospitalized due to the outbreak.
From what we know, more than 20 people have been hospitalized and there has been the death of one elderly person as a result. McDonald’s president, Chris Kempczinski, stated that he wished to “restore confidence” by minimizing the damage of the E. coli outbreak. Their current efforts include removing their onions from all orders in order to prevent further spread of the infection and removing the actual Quarter Pounder sandwich from their menu in order to reassure their customers that they can still enjoy their favorites from the menu.
The brunt of the outbreak was taken by Colorado and Nebraska with at least 50 individuals infected, some of which had to be hospitalized.
Other fast-food restaurants are also responding by removing their onions from their menu items as well. While investigations from the Center of Disease Control and the FDA continue, we wait for this disastrous outbreak to come to a close and hope that all those infected will recover. Until then, be careful what you eat and what you order.
