McDonald’s: home to the typical teenage meal. Most teens know that McDonald’s is the opposite of healthy, but not even a bacterial infection can stop the raging mob of customers.
Ten states including Nebraska investigated a case where several people endured a sickness due to an E.coli infection. It was traced to the freshly slivered onions Mcdonalds uses for their Quarter Pounder.
There were nine cases of E.coli sickness in Nebraska. Student teacher Shiloah Valdez’ father [Steve Smollen] frequents McDonald’s, and was one of the unlucky nine who got sick.
Smollen experienced all the symptoms including nausea, drowsiness, and diarrhea. Battling this sickness, he was up to the standards to go to work.
“I felt worried about him, because he is kind of older,” Valdez said. “ I just was worried that it would really affect him, and I was worried he would die, honestly.”
Smollen handled the bacterial infection well and is doing fine now.
Despite the sickness that Smollen dealt with, Valdez plans to eat at McDonald’s after a good amount of time.
Junior Harry Tran, has worked at McDonald’s for six months, and primarily organizes food for the drive-thru and the lobby. He has observed that less people order their food from the lobby, and mainly from the drive-thru.
“So far I’ve seen more people order more chicken related meals,” Tran said. “The burgers and onions are what they’re mostly trying to stay away from.”
McDonald’s remains a popular place after the outbreak because of their wide variety of options besides burgers or anything with onions. This could be a reason that people still choose to return.
Since the outbreak, McDonalds has removed their Quarter Pounder burger from the menu, and employees have noticed mixed feelings about that decision.
Junior Gabby Kenny has worked at McDonalds for two and a half years and mainly handles the drive-thru orders. She has dealt with customer disappointment over the removal of the Quarter Pounder.
The Quarter Pounder is one of McDonald’s most popular options on their menu, and removing that from the menu will be severely detrimental to the business.
“Some people want it back,” Kenny said. “And when they order the Quarter Pounder, we don’t have it, so they are surprised and they didn’t expect it.”
McDonald’s is so popular that even an E.coli outbreak has not stopped the flow of customers.
