McDonald's Pulls Salads From 3,000 Restaurants Amid Cyclospora Illnesses

By Julie Jargon and Jesse Newman 

McDonald's Corp. removed salads from 3,000 restaurants in 14 states after the products were linked to gastrointestinal illnesses in Iowa and Illinois.

Iowa's Department of Public Health on Thursday said 15 people in the state reported getting sick with cyclospora infections after eating McDonald's salads between late June and early July. The Illinois Department of Public Health said 90 people have been sickened by cyclosporiasis, and that a quarter of them reported eating salads from McDonald's before becoming ill.

McDonald's said it had pulled the salads out of "an abundance of caution, " from restaurants that received shipments from a supplier that had distributed the salads to restaurants in Iowa and Illinois. The 3,000 restaurants are located in: Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana, North Dakota, Kentucky, West Virginia and Missouri.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in June that it was investigating a multistate outbreak of cyclosporiasis linked to vegetable trays made by Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A. Inc. As of July 12, the CDC said 227 people had been sickened who ate the company's prepackaged vegetable trays which included broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and dill dip.

Del Monte in June voluntarily recalled a limited quantity of its vegetable trays sold to select retailers -- including Kwik Trip Inc. and Peapod LLC -- in six Midwestern states.

A spokesman for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said there is no evidence to suggest the cyclospora illnesses linked to McDonald's salads and Del Monte vegetable trays are related.

McDonald's said the supplier in question isn't Del Monte.

McDonald's said it plans to switch to another lettuce-blend supplier and that it is cooperating with state and federal health officials.

Cyclospora are parasites that can contaminate food or water and are common in some tropical and subtropical regions. Foodborne outbreaks of cyclosporiasis in the U.S. are rare and have been linked to various types of imported produce, according to the CDC. Symptoms of such an infection include diarrhea, vomiting and fatigue.

Write to Julie Jargon at [e-mail] and Jesse Newman at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 13, 2018 19:39 ET (23:39 GMT)

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