Dozens of Americans are still recovering from a dangerous bacteria found festering in one of McDonald’s most iconic burgers. An E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s’ Quarter Pounder has led to nearly 50 reported infections across 10 states and one death. The outbreak, which McDonald’s believes stems from a single, massive onion supplier, comes just months after contaminated Boars Head cold cuts resulted in the largest Listeria outbreak in more than a decade.
Food safety experts told Popular Science this uptick in deadly food safety blunders may stem from a chaotic mix of complicated global supply chains, regulatory sluggishness, and shifting appetites for bacteria-prone pre-prepared foods.
What happened with the Quarter Pounder?
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says the first illness linked to the contaminated Quarter Pounders was reported in September. Since then, the tainted burgers have led to at least 10 hospitalizations and one death across at least 10 states. There have been at least 49 E.coli cases linked to the burgers nationwide, though that figure could be larger since some people recover from infections on their own without contacting healthcare authorities. The ages of those reported cases range from 13 to 88 years old.
Most of the illnesses were concentrated in two states: Colorado and Nebraska. McDonald’s massive scale can make pinpointing the origin of these infections difficult, so it’s possible the total number of cases could tick upwards in the days and weeks to come. For perspective, the Associated Press estimates the company has 14,000 stores spread across the country and serves up to 1 million quarter-pounders every two weeks in just the 12 impacted states.
Though an investigation into the outbreak’s root cause is still ongoing, McDonald’s released a statement saying it believes the illnesses are tied to slivered onions used specifically for the quarter pounder. McDonald’s sources those…
Read the full article here
