McDonald’s fan who died from E.Coli after eating Quarter Pounder is named as family say he ‘put trust’ in restaurant
Date: 2024-11-01A MCDONALD’S fan who tragically died after an E.coli outbreak linked to the chain’s Quarter Pounders has been named.
The heartbroken family of 88-year-old James Charles ‘JC’ Smith said he put trust in the fast food giant’s restaurants.
JC and wife Doris (pictured) would always order Quarter Pounders at the branch near their Colorado home[/caption]
Although JC Smith and his wife ordered the same Quarter Pounder at every visit, Doris would always remove the onions from her meal.
The grieving wife told CBS News: “I took mine off and gave mine to him.
“I feel guilty now because I gave him some onions.”
On October 3, when JC first fell sick, Doris called her daughter after her husband suddenly became weak.
Recalling the conversation, she said: “Your daddy is very dizzy and he doesn’t want to get out of bed. He’s afraid he might fall.”
Debbie, who immediately rushed to her parents’ house, added: “My mother had been up all night.
“He had been in the bathroom all night and he had the bloody diarrhoea and he was so weak.
“When I got here he was so weak he couldn’t walk.”
All he wanted to do was enjoy a hamburger with his wife
Debbie Bonnell
The family said they weren’t aware of any specific McDonald’s restaurant they should avoid, so JC and his wife returned for another meal.
“She didn’t tell me (for us) not to go out to eat anymore,” said Doris, referring to the health officials.
Joe Erlinger, President of McDonald’s USA put out a video statement on Tuesday evening in response to the outbreak.
“I wanted to take a minute to provide you with an update that we’re communicating broadly, because food safety is so important to me and everyone at McDonald’s,” he said.
“Today, after close consultation with regulatory authorities, including the CDC, USDA, and FDA, we’ve taken steps to proactively remove slivered onions, which are used in Quarter Pounders, from restaurants in select states.
“We also made the decision to temporarily remove the Quarter Pounder from restaurants in select states.”
He stressed that “the majority of states and the majority of menu items are not affected,” and that other beef products including the Cheeseburger, Hamburger, Big Mac, McDouble, and Double Cheeseburger hadn’t been impacted.
