McDonald's holds the onions; expert warns more cases likely in E. coli outbreak in US

The Manila Times

McDonald's holds the onions; expert warns more cases likely in E. coli outbreak in US  McDonald's MCD.N scrambled on Oct. 24, 2024 to contain the damage from an E. coli outbreak linked to Quarter Pounder burgers that has killed one person and sickened nearly 50 others, as it pulled the menu item from restaurants across a dozen states. The outbreak has sickened people across the US West and Midwest, with 10 hospitalized due to serious complications, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is investigating the outbreak. A McDonald’s spokesman said the outbreak was limited to the United States.   REUTERS / STRINGR / MCDONALD'S HANDOUT  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe    Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net    Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital    Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein   #TheManilaTimes #tmtnews #mcdonalds #quarterpounder #fastfood

Transcript

00:00So the point is that these events could be caused by climate change for two reasons.

00:26We have extreme weather events where we get flooding but also the higher temperature enables

00:32the pathogens like E. coli 157 to persist for longer. So when you get that combination you're

00:37going to have these pathogens within the field environment.

00:48The incubation period for E. coli 157 is typically 10 days and the last reported case

00:56I think was last week. So the problem is that you've got other cases that might be occurring

01:03but yet have to be linked to the outbreak and very typically what happens is that the numbers expand.

01:17How it happens is that typically E. coli 157 lives in cattle. It's happy with cattle,

01:24it doesn't affect the cattle, it's got a special attachment factor but the cattle produce manure

01:30and that manure can get into irrigation ponds, it can get put onto land and the thing with E. coli 157

01:37it's very persistent so it can very easily live out in an onion field.

01:45But this is their Achilles heel is that yeah contamination in the field on an onion will get to the consumer.

02:02So

02:12after close consultation with regulatory authorities including the CDC, USDA and FDA we've

02:19taken steps to proactively remove slivered onions which are used in quarter pounders

02:24from restaurants in select states. We also made the decision to temporarily remove the quarter

02:30pounder from restaurants in select states. The decision to do this is not one we take lightly

02:37and it was made in close consultation with the CDC. It's important to note

02:42that the majority of states and the majority of menu items are not affected.

02:48So

03:00I don't have any nervousness about McDonald's. I can't say I eat it all of the time but I work in

03:05public health so I know that they've identified the item of concern and they've pulled it from

03:11the shelves and I know that they're working hard to make sure that everybody is safe the

03:15way they should be. There's food standards for public health and you know they all have to do

03:28the certain standards so this could just be a one-off issue with onions or something like that

03:34so yeah so not nervous at all. Like I don't think they take it as seriously as they should so it

03:41does make me kind of uncomfortable when there's recalls and like outbreaks of stuff

03:45because it just doesn't seem like it's ever really handled properly.

04:11I probably would not buy a quarter pounder at this point but again look I think that the corporation is out in front of it

04:25along with U.S. authorities and agencies so I think it will be I think it will be resolved soon.

04:32Look I'm just gonna try my hand today. Go ahead get something to eat hopefully you know

04:47it'll be all right. Look bless my food hopefully everything be good.

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