Marler Clark, the Food Safety Law Firm, weighs in with E. coli Lawsuit against McDonalds

Today the E. coli attorneys at Marler Clark filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s Corporation on behalf of Sarah Johnson, in the District Court of the District of Nebraska (Complaint # 4:24-cv-03195, see attached below). McDonald’s has confirmed that Taylor Farms was the supplier of onions that have been linked to a deadly E. coli outbreak traced to Quarter Pounder burgers sold at the chain’s restaurants in at least 13 states. Johnson Mc D complaint FINAL (pdf)

As of October 24, 75 people infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 have been reported from 13 states – Washington, Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, New Mexico, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Michigan. According to information available, 22 have been hospitalized, and 2 people developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious condition that can cause kidney failure. One death has been reported from an older adult in Colorado. 

Taylor Farms, the supplier of slivered onions to the affected McDonald’s locations, has initiated a voluntary recall and has asked customers to stop using some onions while this investigation is ongoing. Food service customers were contacted directly and told to remove onions.

In addition, on October 23, US Foods reported that Taylor Farms had recalled whole, peeled onions as well as diced onions. But the wholesaler also said that it was not a McDonald’s supplier and that its recall did not include any products sold at the fast-food chain’s restaurants.

Other fast-food chains have pulled fresh onions from their menus. Those restaurants include Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC and Burger King. Illegal Pete’s also took onions off the menu according to a US Foods recall notice. US Foods, the country’s largest supplier of food-to-food service operations including restaurants in all 50 states, said the recalled onions came from a Taylor Farms facility in Colorado. 

Past Recent Onion Outbreaks:

80 illnesses in 23 states linked to Gills Onions

1040 illness in 41 states linked to ProSource and Keeler Family Parms Onions

1127 illness in 48 states linked to Thomson Onions

19 illnesses in 7 states linked to Taylor Farms Onion and Celery Mix

William “Bill” Marler has been a food safety lawyer and advocate since the 1993 Jack-in-the-Box E. coli Outbreak which was chronicled in the book, “Poisoned” and in the recent Emmy Award winning Netflix documentary by the same name. Bill work has been profiled in the New Yorker, “A Bug in the System;” the Seattle Times, “30 years after the deadly E. coli outbreak, A Seattle attorney still fights for food safety;” the Washington Post, “He helped make burgers safer, Now he is fighting food poisoning again;” and several others. 

Dozens of times a year Bill speaks to industry and government throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, China and Australia on why it is important to prevent foodborne illnesses. He is also a frequent commentator on food litigation and food safety on Marler Blog. Bill is also the publisher of Food Safety News.

Republished with permission from Bill Marler and Marler Clark. Copyright (c) Marler Clark LLP, PS. All rights reserved.