United States: At least 75 people have fallen ill after consuming contaminated McDonald’s Quarter Pounders which are associated with a deadly E. coli strain, the CDC disclosed on Friday.
The increase has been from 49 cases on Tuesday to 75, reported across 13 states. Hospitals admissions have risen to 22 from 20. The CDC stated on Tuesday that one person had died and presented no new deaths on Friday.
The rise in the number of people getting ill, which includes old cases, was expected because it takes several weeks for investigators to connect the cases to food poisoning outbreaks. The most recent case was said the Oct. 10, as reported by NBC News.
Symptoms and Disease Impact
Those who have fallen ill have been between the ages of 13 and 88. Most are men. HUS, a disease that results in acute kidney failure that is potentially fatal, has hospitalized two individuals, including a teenager, the CDC reported.
This is just the tip of the iceberg because most people who have E. coli ravaged recover without ever being tested for the bacteria.
E. Coli symptoms: Vomiting and/or diarrhea and high fever, at least 102 degrees begin three to four days after consuming food contaminated with the bacteria.
Source of Contamination
The Food and Drug Administration and the CDC point to the slivered onions that come on hamburgers as the major cause of the contamination even as health officials have not dismissed the beef patties used in the Quarter Pounders.
On Thursday, McDonald said that the supplier that prepared the onions used on the Quarter Pounders was Taylor Farms, a food producer in California.
Taylor Farms on Wednesday announced a recall on four of its raw onion products because of “potential Escherichia coli contamination.” Taco Bell, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Illegal Pete’s all stated that they would temporarily not be serving onions for their clients after the recall was made. The authorities who got the affected onions from restaurants in the restaurant chain have been informed according to the FDA. We couldn’t find any reports of customers falling ill due to any of those restaurants.
McDonald’s Response and Legal Actions
McDonald’s has pulled the slivered onions and Quarter Pounder patties in question from its restaurants in at least 12 states: Colorado, Kansas, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.
However, it was unclear whether Taylor Farms delivered the onions directly to McDonald’s or through a deliverer. As of this writing, Taylor Farms has not replied to my requests for comment.
They will have to go to court for negligence after two people claimed to have gotten sick after consuming food at McDonald’s, as reported by NBC News.
The two suits are filed by the two plaintiffs and both are being represented by Ron Simon of Ron Simon & Associates, an attorney who specializes in food safety law. Simon said on Thursday that he has five clients who claim that they became ill in the outbreak and five more who claimed the same thing but were not identified for determining the source of the outbreak.