The Salinas Californian reports that around 395 people have become sick from eating tainted McDonald's salads, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC indicated that the illnesses have been linked to salad mix contaminated with the Cyclospora parasite, which is spread through fecal matter. 16 individuals have been hospitalized, according to the CDC.
15 states have confirmed cases, primarily in the Midwest. Illinois, where McDonald's is headquartered, has the most with 202. Shortly after people began getting sick last month, McDonald's voluntarily stopped selling salads at impacted restaurants and switched salad suppliers. On July 26, 2018, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration analysis confirmed that McDonald's supplier Fresh Express was the source of the problem. The analysis found Cyclospora in a sample from an unused package of salad mix with romaine lettuce and carrots. The package's expiration date had already passed. The FDA reports that Fresh Express committed to using recall procedures to inform those companies that received this romaine lettuce about the sample result and also reported that carrots used in the mix were only sent to McDonald's locations." Fresh Express said in a statement on its website on Thursday, August 2, 2018 that none of the packages were for retail sale to consumers and that the company continues to work with food safety experts along with federal and state government officials on their investigations. Fresh Express also stated that their top priority is providing consumers with the highest quality and safest fresh lettuce and leafy greens products available and that as of now, there is no clear understanding about the contamination pathway or the definitive source of infection."
There are problems with Cyclospora elsewhere. Towards the end of July 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a public health alert on Caito Foods beef, pork and poultry salad and wraps, due to concerns that they'd been contaminated with Cyclospora, too. Fresh Express supplies the chopped romaine lettuce the Indianapolis-based distributor uses for its foods sold at Kroger, Trader Joe's and Walgreen's.
Here's the current breakdown of where the McDonald's cases are:
Connecticut: 1
Florida: 1
Iowa: 87
Indiana: 2
Kentucky: 6
Michigan: 2
Minnesota: 8
Missouri: 47
Nebraska: 5
Ohio: 13
South Dakota: 11
Tennessee: 1
Virginia: 1
Wisconsin: 8
The victims in Connecticut, Tennessee, and Virginia bought salads while traveling in Illinois and the Floridian was visiting Kentucky, the CDC said.
All of the McDonald's locations affected have been completely restocked with a fresh lettuce-mix supply.
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