OFT Files Lawsuit Against McDonald's Onion Supplier Taylor Farms

MINNEAPOLIS — OFT Food Safety & Injury Lawyers have filed a lawsuit against McDonald's onion supplier Taylor Farms arising from the multistate E. coli outbreak linked to the slivered onions used on McDonald's Quarter Pounders. The defendants are McDonald Corporation and Taylor Fresh Foods, Inc. The lawsuit has been filed in Cook County, Ill., where McDonald's is headquartered. A copy of the complaint is available upon request.

The plaintiff is Colorado resident Logan Grinstead, who fell ill two days after consuming a McDonald's Quarter Pounder containing contaminated Taylor Farms slivered onions, according to the complaint. 

In the wake of the outbreak, McDonald’s indicated that slivered onions were a likely vehicle for the outbreak strain of E. coli, and McDonald’s identified Taylor Farms as the source of those onions. OFT Lawyer Brendan Flaherty has called for both McDonald’s and Taylor Farms to publicly release what they know. 

"McDonald’s believes contaminated onions rather than its beef were the source of the outbreak strain but really have not said what evidence they have,” Flaherty said. “McDonald’s keeps good track of its food suppliers and says those onions came from Taylor Farms. But Taylor Farms has not publicly stepped up and taken responsibility, publicly identified the growing fields or the customers who received those onions. If you want the public to trust you, you've got to come clean. Transparency and trust go hand in hand. That is why Mr. Grinstead brought his case: to find out how this happened and get those responsible to step up and take responsibility.”

According to Flaherty, what will be most telling is whether any product or field testing of onions proves to be positive for E. coli.

"I want to see the receipts," he said. "If all tests, industry and public health, were negative, tell us. If there were any tests that were positive, tell us that too. Tests don't lie."

So far, the outbreak has sickened 75 people in 13 states. Two have developed a serious, life-threatening kidney condition called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and one individual has died.