McDonald’s has recently undergone a food safety crisis that has left multiple people severely ill due to improper handling of ingredients.
Slivered onions, an item on several McDonald’s sandwiches, including every Quarter Pounder, the Daily Double and the McRib, have recently been contaminated with E. coli. So far, 90 people have been affected, 27 hospitalized and the death of one person.
The spread of E. coli started in Colorado, and since then, the FDA has launched an investigation in Taylor Farms, McDonald’s largest supplier of fresh produce. While the incident is primarily centered in Colorado, some other states have been affected, including portions of Iowa.
While many may be worried about eating Quarter Pounders at McDonald, the incident is not affecting any local Quad City McDonalds. “Our distributor has sent us a notice to inform all customers that we have not been affected by this E. coli outbreak. We will continue to serve slivered onions so our customers can enjoy a fresh, juicy Quarter Pounder,” said Austin Smith, local McDonald’s restaurant franchisee.
However, this hasn’t been the first time McDonald’s has undergone a food safety crisis. There have been numerous other incidents where McDonald’s food has been the cause for several foodborne illnesses. Most notably, the McDonald’s 2017 romaine lettuce E.coli outbreak caused 46 people to become ill. A salmonella outbreak from tomatoes back in 2009 also sparked controversy. There have been dozens of other cases of foodborne illnesses that have directly resulted from McDonalds food.
Students are worried about what this recent outbreak means for their eating habits, seeing as numerous students enjoy McDonalds for its convenient and tasty food. “McDonald’s has some of the best fast food I have eaten in my entire life. Knowing that I may get sick just by eating the food is really scary for me,” shared senior Andrew Erickson.
While the recent outbreak may raise concerns, McDonalds food is far from dangerous to eat. McDonalds practices top-of-the-line hygiene and inspection standards to ensure these incidences will never occur again. Some of these standards include following strict food safety regulations to a tee, obeying proper food safety standards and using traceability programs to ensure that issues with certain food products can be traced back to the farm, such as the most recent outbreak.
While there have been numerous illnesses due to improper handling of Mcdonald’s ingredients, it is very unlikely it will happen to anyone. McDonald’s serves 69 million customers per day. That’s billions of customers per year, making the chance of catching a foodborne illness from McDonald’s food insignificantly low.
