Contaminated food from McDonald’s, Boar’s Head, and more is making Americans sick.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is investigating McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers amid reports that an E. coli outbreak linked to the sandwiches is making Americans sick.
The investigation comes amid a rash of foodborne illness cases in which deli meat, waffles, eggs, and other foods tainted with E. coli, listeria, and salmonella have been responsible for product recalls, hundreds of hospitalizations, and even deaths across the United States.
There are two primary reasons for the recent uptick in announcements of tainted food. One, the US food system has become extremely complicated in recent decades: There are more imported foods now as well as more highly processed foods, which creates more opportunities for disease to enter the food system.
Two, the government has better and faster tracing capabilities, thanks to legislation around food safety modernization. That makes it easier for the Food and Drug Administration and the US Department of Agriculture, the two bodies that investigate such outbreaks, to track problems to their source. It also makes it easier for companies to recall tainted products before they spread further into the food system and sicken large numbers of people.
Here is what you need to know about the most recent cases of foodborne illness and why these outbreaks are happening.Which diseases are contaminating food products, and where?
The latest issue with tainted food is at McDonald’s, where E. coli linked to Quarter Pounders has spread to 10 states and sickened 49 people — although according to the CDC, the actual number of people who got sick from this outbreak is probably much higher. The exact source of the outbreak is under investigation, but the CDC believes onions or beef used in the burger could be the cause.
E. coli, a type of bacteria, isn’t dangerous in and of itself. As Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told Vox, “You have E. coli in your body. I have E. coli in my body,” specifically in the gastrointestinal tract. The problem is, some strains make people sick and are especially dangerous when they get into a water supply. Tainted water used in irrigation for agriculture can contaminate food. Deadly strains can also be introduced into meat products, particularly ground beef, when the animal is slaughtered and the meat is processed. E. coli can also spread by person-to-person contact if a sick person is not careful about hygiene.
Unfortunately, E. coli isn’t the only bacteria affecting the food supply right now. Listeria, which spreads easily and rapidly and can only be killed by heating food to high temperatures, led to a Friday recall of a wide range of waffles produced for various national supermarkets. This comes after a slew of chicken products at grocery stores like Trader Joe’s and Aldi were also flagged for recall due to listeria concerns tied to BrucePac, a pre-cooked meat producer.
