United States: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it has
found more than dozens of violations at a McDonald’s supplier associated with the E.coli outbreak that impacted over a hundred people and forced a recall of onions used in the company’s famous burgers.
These were highlighted in the report of the FDA inspection of Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs processing center, secured by CBS News from the agency through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
The different violations observed are biofilm & food debris on equipment, inadequate food handling procedures, and insufficient sanitation programs, and finally, inadequate handling of ready-to-eat (RTE) produce.
According to the FDA’s inspectors’ statement, “Production employees handling RTE produce and food contact surfaces were not observed using any of the handwashing sinks in the facility,” US News reported.
What more are the officials stating?
As a result of the inspection, the FDA gave Taylor Farms a Form 483 because of conditions that are ‘injurious to health.’
Other violations discovered comprised failure by employees to wash their hands correctly as required, not drying utensils that were sanitized, and endangering the produce with hazardous cleaning chemicals.
The chemical mixtures used for sanitation wherein the stock concentration has exceeded the maximum prescribed concentration or where inadequacy of records for safe usage was another concern identified by the inspectors.
After that, the company withdrew thousands of packs of ready-to-eat onions that were supplied to food service establishments in six states.
“This is consistent with the fact that no illnesses or public health threat has been linked to these observations,” the company stated.
FDA Cites Dirty Equipment, Poor Sanitation at McDonald’s Onion Supplier After E. Coli Scare https://t.co/9QAkL0SXgu
— Gizmodo (@Gizmodo) January 13, 2025
Mcdonald’s, which had paused its supplies from Taylor Farms’ Colorado Springs outlet before, said it remained committed to food safety.
During the outbreak, 104 people from 14 states became ill, and 34 were hospitalized, though one older person in Colorado died, the FDA stated in a prior health update, US News reported.
As a result of the investigation and cross-checking information between the officials and restaurant employees, it was established that the possible cause of the cross-contamination was raw, slivered onions placed on its specialty burgers.
Though evidence for what caused the outbreak in the first place was scarce, Taylor Farms sourced onions that one of the samples was later identified as containing E. coli.
However, the FDA pointed out that the samples did not match the strain that had infected the patients.