When a company you love is getting sued, a lot of questions get raised. McDonald’s is currently in the midst of a pretty serious lawsuit, and it’s all because of one of their products. And no, it’s not the Big Mac.
A lot of customers have gotten ill over McDonald’s salads, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting that 163 people have been diagnosed with cyclosporiasis after ordering salads off the McDonald’s menu. Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal disease caused by ingesting food or water that’s been tainted by a parasite. It’s very unlikely for cyclosporiasis to be passed from person to person. That means that 163 people were directly affected by the food. The disease can be treated with antibiotics, rest, and time — but its symptoms aren’t pleasant.
The news caused McDonald’s to stop selling salads at 3,000 locations across 14 states. They still haven’t been able to pinpoint how the parasite entered their lettuce supply — and that’s scary.
While no deaths have been reported thus far, symptoms of cyclosporiasis can often take up to a month to get better. Most of us don’t have a month of sick days lying around.
Jennifer Smith from Illinois was the first person diagnosed with cyclosporiasis due to the tainted salads, and she chose to sue McDonald’s for $50,000. According to Ron Simon & Associates, Smith frequently ate salads from McDonald’s to try and make healthier choices.
After suffering from symptoms such as vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, she sought out medical care. It took approximately a month for doctors to properly diagnose her with cyclosporiasis.
“Nobody expects to be infected by a parasite when eating salad from McDonald’s. But that is exactly what happened here. In this litigation, we will determine how this contamination occurred and prevent it from happening again,” attorney Ron Simon stated.
Even though the list of “do not eat” foods seems to keep growing, it’s probably best to stay away from McDonald’s salads for a little bit.
