On October 22, 2024 the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the E. coli outbreak that has been linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounder menu item. As of October 23rd, 49 people have become ill from the outbreak, including ten that have been hospitalized, one child that has developed a kidney disease called hemolytic uremic syndrome, and one person that has died. The first case was reported on September 27th and official investigations began on October 15th after Colorado alerted the CDC of an abnormal rise in E. coli cases. The states that have been affected are currently Colorado, Kansas, Utah and Wyoming, as well as portions of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oklahoma which make up a large portion of the United States. One might ask, how is it possible for an outbreak to spread so fast to multiple locations?
It has yet to be officially confirmed what the culprit of this outbreak is, however, the chief officer of supply chain of McDonald’s, Cesar Piña, has stated that the initial discoveries have led to believe that onions are where the problem began. McDonald’s primarily uses 2 types of onions, one is a dehydrated chopped onion that is rehydrated in store, and used on menu items such as the Big Mac, Classic Double, and a classic hamburger. The other type is a thinly slivered real onion that is only used on the Quarter Pounder, the menu item that has caused many to recently fall ill.
McDonald’s has recently released a statement that the fresh onions they use can be traced to a single supplier that serves 3 different distribution centers across the United States. Onions, for example, can become contaminated at various stages of the growing process by coming into contact with bacteria filled irrigation water or from manure in the soil. If the supplier sent these contaminated onions to its various distributors which were in turn sent to various McDonald’s locations, this explains how consumers across a large area of the US were affected. It is currently unknown whether there have been E. coli cases linked to other businesses that use the same supplier.
The quarter-pound beef patties are also exclusively used in the Quarter Pounder and no other menu items so they are also being investigated. If the patties are indeed the culprit, it is extremely likely that they were also contaminated at the level of the supplier.
Either way, illnesses may arise for those who did not consume these two ingredients, as cross-contamination at the store level, further contamination yet undiscovered, or a finding that other suppled goods played a role, might alter the current analysis.
Quarter Pounders have been removed from the menu of all McDonald’s locations in the affected states.
Symptoms of an E. coli infection range from mild to severe/deadly. Common symptoms include a 102 fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration. If symptoms become serious, a healthcare provider should be immediately contacted.
Today, McDonald’s E. coli lawyer Ron Simon filed the first E. coli McDonald’s lawsuit on behalf of those who have been affected by the outbreak and is “dedicated to fighting for the rights of those impacted by this outbreak.”
