On October 22, the major fast food chain McDonald’s experienced an outbreak of Escherichia coli (E. coli) poisoning in its Quarter Pounders. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported “between 16 and 29 cases in Colorado and Montana and between six and 15 cases in Utah, Nebraska and Missouri,” according to Accuweather. Other states, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, New Mexico, Wyoming, Oregon, and Washington, had between one and five cases. The CDC attributed the outbreak of E. coli to the slivered onions in the Quarter Pounders, which came from a Taylor Farms facility in Colorado and have since been recalled. The McDonald’s team is working to mitigate the spread and restore the trust of their customers, as there have been over 90 cases reported so far.
E. coli is a gram-negative bacteria, meaning the cells have a thick peptidoglycan cell wall that is not found in gram-positive bacteria. This cell wall provides protection against antibiotics and other bacterial medications, making infections of this bacteria very difficult to treat. E. coli bacteria have many strains, and the one that arose in this outbreak was Shiga toxin-containing E. coli (STEC). While other strains of E. coli only cause diarrhea and fever, the Shiga toxin in STEC can cause damage to the lining of the stomach and intestines, as well as other tissues in the body. Symptoms of infection include diarrhea, fever, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, fatigue, chills, and severe dehydration. When one contracts this infection, it takes roughly four to five days for these symptoms to occur, and a diagnosis is made by examining the stool of the patient.
Doctors don’t usually treat STEC with antibiotics or antidiarrheal medicines because doing so can increase the risk of contracting hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a rare disease that affects the kidneys and blood clotting factors. Instead, those who have STEC are usually given fluids to prevent dehydration and told to rest until the infection subsides.
E. coli can spread through food contamination as well as from person to person. Taylor Farms, the California-based distribution center for the onions that McDonald’s uses in its Quarter Pounders and other sandwiches, has voluntarily recalled its whole and diced onions from McDonald’s and other fast food restaurants they supply. The CDC declared this helped mitigate the public risk by lowering the likelihood of contaminated onions still being available for sale. In addition, McDonald’s had stopped selling Quarter Pounders in one-fifth of its locations across the country, especially in the areas where cases were the most prevalent. To date, there has been one death and 27 hospitalizations related to this outbreak, and McDonald’s has done work to restore its reputation among the public by taking swift actions to address the issue and emphasizing their commitment to food safety.
E. coli outbreaks in the food industry have been linked to a number of food products. Wendy’s and Taco Bell had outbreaks from their lettuce in 2022 and 2006, respectively. Meat is another source of contamination, as in 2019, ground bison supplied by Northfork Bison Distribution Inc. of St. Leonard, Quebec, Canada, was linked to an E. coli outbreak. In the same year, an outbreak was linked to Fresh Express Sunflower Crisp Chopped salad kits. Restaurants have a variety of measures they follow to kill E. coli bacteria in their products before serving them. For instance, restaurants will have a set standard temperature to which meat must be cooked, as heat is the most effective way to kill E. coli bacteria. Sanitation in the cooking and preparation process is also vital to preventing the spread of E. coli. Cross-contamination of food and improper handling of food can spread other diseases in food products and damage the reputation of restaurants.
The commonality of E. coli and other bacterial outbreaks in restaurants has caused the CDC and FDA to maintain more strict guidelines for the preparation of food products. Restaurants have also become more wary when selecting a provider of ingredients, as they form a much closer relationship with their food vendors to ensure the best quality of food.
