McDonald’s facing PR disaster
On Friday, health officials announced that McDonald’s salads made over 60 people sick from cyclospora in multiple states.
To contain the minor epidemic, McDonald’s has pulled salads from 3,000 stores across 14 states, including: Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana, North Dakota, Kentucky, West Virginia and Missouri.
McDonald’s had this to say about the outbreak:
Out of an abundance of caution, we decided to voluntarily stop selling salads at impacted restaurants until we can switch to another lettuce blend supplier. We are in the process of removing existing salad blend from identified restaurants and distribution centers — which includes approximately 3,000 of our US restaurants primarily located in the Midwest.
Cyclospora creates many symptoms, including diarrhea, headaches, nausea, explosive bowel movements, and other unpleasant intestinal symptoms. However, the Food and Drug Administration is doing what they can to ameliorate the problem. FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb states,
It’s early in the investigation, but we are taking steps now to help ensure consumers know about the potentially contaminated product so that they can better protect themselves or seek treatment, especially if they have signs or symptoms of a cyclospora infection.
McDonald’s stock (MCD) has fallen 4.5 percent in the past 30 days, and this outbreak is certainly not helping. McDonald’s is facing the same problem that Chipotle had with norovirus a few years ago, and while this may be a present PR nightmare, it will likely blow over soon.
Featured image via Wikipedia
Comment Template