GREELEY, Colo. (KDVR) — The first lawsuit is filed against McDonald’s after an E. coli outbreak in ten states killed one person and sickened 49 others earlier this month.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment told FOX31 that every McDonald’s restaurant in the state likely received ingredients from the same suppliers.
The food safety law firm that successfully sued McDonald’s in 2019 is now targeting the company again.
“Our phones are ringing off the hook,” Ron Simon of Ron Simon & Associates told FOX31.
The firm, which filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in Illinois where McDonald’s is headquartered, represents a growing list of at least 20 people including Greeley resident Eric Stelly who tested positive for E. coli.
“When a consumer goes to a restaurant like Mcdonald's, they’re placing (an) enormous amount of trust that McDonald’s has done everything it can to make sure that its food is safe and that’s because the consumer has no way of knowing if it’s poisonous or not,” said Simon.
Experts question how bacteria spread to Quarter Pounder
The outbreak is linked to the Quarter Pounder, which the restaurant has pulled off of its menu.
“We know that Quarter Pounders were contaminated based on the evidence the CDC has developed so at the end of the day once we have people that tested positive for the exact outbreak strain, we have a solid case,” said Simon.
The Centers For Disease Control said additional testing will likely reveal more cases are related to the outbreak. Colorado State University food safety expert Eduardo Gutierrez-Rodriguez told FOX31 that E. coli contamination can be spread in several different ways, including handling food commercially or at home.
“You’re growing something in a field or in a greenhouse and then it gets contaminated that’s one route, another route is you are basically harvesting, processing it and putting it in a bag,” he said.
Gutierrez-Rodriguez told FOX31 that thoroughly cooking food, washing fresh produce and using separate cutting boards and utensils for meat, fruits and vegetables are key to preventing contamination.
Simon told FOX31 the lawsuit is seeking compensation for medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering and could result in tens of millions of dollars in damages.
“These bacteria — you can’t smell them, you can’t taste them, you can’t see them, because they’re microscopic, but at the end of the day all of this E. coli comes from one of two places human or animal feces and so somehow feces got into the food,” said Simon.
McDonald’s response to the outbreak is posted on the company’s website highlighting its safety protocols including daily temperature checks, storage and cooking guidelines and hourly handwashing requirements.
The lawsuit also demands that health violations be addressed.
“We want to make sure that we get down to the brass tacks and figure out exactly how this contamination occurred so we can stop it and we can prevent it from happening again,” said Simon.
McDonald’s has not yet responded to a request by FOX31 for a response to the lawsuit.
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