onions

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Biofilms, unwashed hands: FDA found violations at McDonald’s ex-onion supplier

Perhaps most concerning, FDA inspectors noted that employees were never seen washing their hands. Instead, they wore gloves, and if they touched dirty surfaces or items, they would simply put hand sanitizer on their dirty gloves and carry on. What they should have been doing was removing their dirty gloves, washing their hands, and getting clean gloves. However, the FDA inspectors never saw this happen, and managers confirmed that hand sanitizing gloves was common practice.

The inspectors also noted that the facility’s equipment was always wet. Employees applied sanitizing solutions on knives and other equipment used to dice and chop fresh produce. The sanitizing solution is meant to be air-dried before use, but Taylor Farms employees immediately used the equipment—still dripping with sanitizing solution—to cut RTE produce.

On one day of the inspection, FDA agents saw employees chop RTE lettuce with equipment that was wet with sanitizing solution at the maximum concentration, which was 200 ppm. In another instance, the inspectors saw an employee mix cleaning chemicals together to make a sanitizing solution, which the employee said was done “routinely.” When inspectors asked about the mixture, Taylor Farms “could not find the source of this recipe,” nor could they find the manufacturer label or other information stating the mixture was designed for use.

“Highest expectations”

In a statement to CBS, Taylor Farms said that it “immediately took steps to address” the problems found in the FDA’s inspection, which resulted in no “administrative or regulatory action” against the company.

“Taylor Farms is confident in our best-in-class food safety processes, and in turn, the quality and safety of our products,” the company said in the statement. “As is common following an inspection, FDA issued observations of conditions that could be improved at one of our facilities.” The company added that “no illnesses or public health threat has been linked to these observations” in the inspection.

McDonald’s, meanwhile, said it had stopped getting onions from the facility.

“We hold our suppliers to the highest expectations and standards of food safety. Prior to this inspection, and unrelated to its findings, McDonald’s stopped sourcing from Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs facility,” McDonald’s said in a statement.

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McDonald’s E. coli outbreak grows by 50% in 3 days as lawsuits mount

Twenty-six more cases have been identified in a multistate E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounder burgers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday.

The 26 new cases represent a 50 percent increase in the case count from October 22, bringing the total to 75 cases. With the new cases, health officials also reported 12 more hospitalizations, including one new adult case of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a severe complication to an E. coli O157:H7 infection. Three more states are also newly affected: Michigan, New Mexico, and Washington.

In all, the outbreak now stands at 75 cases, including 22 hospitalizations and two cases of HUS, across 13 states. The number of deaths linked to the outbreak remains at one. The most recent illness onset for the cases identified so far is October 10.

The states with cases now include: Colorado (26 cases), Montana (13), Nebraska (11), New Mexico (5), Utah (5), Missouri (4), Wyoming (4), and Michigan (2), and one case each in Iowa, Kansas, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The source of the outbreak has not yet been confirmed, but investigators have focused on the beef patties and slivered onions used on McDonald’s Quarter Pounders. McDonald’s immediately pulled the popular burger off the menu and paused distribution of the slivered onions from affected restaurants when the CDC announced the outbreak Tuesday. McDonald’s considered the affected areas to be Colorado, Kansas, Utah, and Wyoming, as well as portions of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.

Onions recalled and destroyed

On Wednesday, one of McDonald’s onion suppliers, Taylor Farms, recalled peeled and diced yellow onion products. Taylor Farms told Bloomberg earlier this week that its testing had not turned up E. coli, but that it decided to issue the recall anyway.

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Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King pull onions amid McDonald’s outbreak

On Thursday, Yum Brands—owner of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell—followed that lead, saying it, too, would remove fresh onions from its chains’ menus at some locations, according to Reuters. Restaurant Brands International, owner of Burger King, also did the same.

“We’ve been told by corporate to not use any onions going forward for the foreseeable future,” Maria Gonzales, the on-duty manager inside a Burger King in Longmont, Colorado, told Reuters on Wednesday. “They’re off our menu.”

As of Thursday, the case count in the E. coli outbreak remained at 49 people in 10 states. Of those, 10 were hospitalized, including a child with a life-threatening complication. One older person in Colorado has died.

The states with cases include: Colorado (26 cases), Nebraska (9), Utah (4), Wyoming (4), and one case each in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

McDonald’s removed Quarter Pounders and slivered onions from restaurant menus in Colorado, Kansas, Utah, Wyoming, and portions of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. In a statement, McDonald’s said that for these restaurants, its onions are “sourced by a single supplier that serves three distribution centers. The fast-food giant continues to serve other beef burgers and diced onions at impacted locations.

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