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Yesterday β€” 13 January 2025Main stream

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

By: Beth Mole
13 January 2025 at 15:44

The onion supplier behind a deadly E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald's Quarter Pounders this past fall had numerous health and sanitation violations, including employees with unwashed hands, dirty equipment, and puddles of Listeria bacteria. That's according to a Food and Drug Administration inspection report that was obtained by CBS News via a Freedom of Information Act request.

On October 22, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the outbreak investigation, which at that time had only been linked to 48 illnesses across 10 states, including one death. The slivered onions on the fast-food giant's popular Quarter Pounder burgers were an immediate suspect. McDonald's temporarily pulled the burgers from the menu in affected states, and the supplier of the suspect onions, Taylor Farms of Colorado, swiftly recalled thousands of cases. Ultimately, 104 were sickened across 14 states, with 34 people hospitalized and one dead.

On October 28, the FDA began a multi-day inspection of Taylor Farms' facility in Colorado Springs, in which inspectors found numerous violations. The facility processes "ready-to-eat" (RTE) produce, like the cut onions, that do not go through a lethal treatment step for any environmental pathogens before being sold to consumers. This makes any unsanitary conditions in the facility particularly risky for food safety.

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Before yesterdayMain stream

McDonald's is finally bringing back its cult-favorite menu item — the Snack Wrap

5 December 2024 at 19:52
Heidi Klum holding McDonald's snack wraps.
McDonald's Snack Wraps are coming back in 2025 β€” Heidi Klum was previously featured in a promotional campaign.

Franziska Krug/Getty Images

  • McDonald's Snack Wraps are set to return to US menus in 2025.
  • The cult-favorite menu item was launched in 2006 and discontinued in 2020.
  • This announcement comes in the wake of the deadly E. coli outbreak in October linked to Quarter Pounders.

Fans of McDonald's Snack Wrap, rejoice β€” the fast-food giant is finally bringing the popular menu item back.

On Thursday, Joe Erlinger, the president of McDonald's US, confirmed on "Good Morning America" that the Snack Wrap will return next year.

"It has a cult following. I get so many emails in my inbox about this product," Erlinger said.

McDonald's Snack Wraps β€” chicken, lettuce, and cheese wrapped in a tortilla β€” were launched in 2006. In 2008, the company even enlisted supermodel Heidi Klum to star in a promotional campaign for the item.

The fan-favorite food was removed from national menus in 2016. Although franchisees could still choose to serve the Snack Wraps, they often complained that the wraps took too long to make, Bloomberg reported in 2015.

The Snack Wrap was officially discontinued in the US in 2020 as part of a menu simplification.

However, different variations of the Snack Wrap are still available on some international menus.

The Snack Wrap's return to US menus comes after years of online petitioning by fans β€” including one on Change.org that's been signed by over 18,000 people.

However, the exact launch date of the Snack Wrap remains unclear; Erlinger declined to share specifics while on the show.

"I'm not going to tell you exactly when in 2025 for competitive reasons," he said.

The announcement also comes in the wake of a deadly E. coli outbreak in October linked to slivered onions served on McDonald's Quarter Pounders.

About a week after reports of the outbreak emerged, the company said that its daily sales had dipped.

"We saw that shift to kind of having daily negative sales and guest count results since the beginning of the food safety incident," CFO Ian Borden said during the company's third-quarter earnings call on October 29.

In November, CNN reported that the fast-food giant was investing $100,000,000 to lure customers back to its restaurants. Thirty-five million of the investment will go toward marketing, while $65,000,000 will be spent on the franchisees that were worst affected by the outbreak.

A representative for McDonald's did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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