McDonald's, the world's largest restaurant chain, said on Thursday it had stopped selling salads at approximately 3,000 US restaurants after over 100 cases of infections were reported from the states of Iowa and Illinois.
The Iowa and Illinois health departments said on Thursday that they were investigating cyclospora infections linked to the salads at McDonald's restaurants.
McDonald’s shares fell 1.4 per cent after hours on Thursday. The Illinois Department of Public Health said it had seen about 90 cases, and the Iowa Department of Public Health said it had recorded 15 cases. In about one-fourth of the Illinois cases, people reported eating salads from McDonald’s in the days before they became ill.
In a statements, McDonald's said it had stopped selling salads in the affected restaurants until it could
switch to another lettuce blend supplier. “We are closely monitoring this situation and cooperating with state and federal public health authorities as they further investigate,” McDonald’s said.
The parasite, cyclospora cayetanensis, infects the small intestine, typically causing watery diarrhoea and frequent, sometimes, explosive bowel movements. It is spread by ingesting food or water contaminated with faeces and not directly from one person to another.
Several outbreaks have occurred in the US in the past several years, especially during the summer months, that had been linked to imported fresh produce including raspberries, basil, snow peas, and lettuce.