Hold the Onions: McDonald’s Response to the E. coli Outbreak

 While McDonald’s was fielding questions from the news media about Donald Trump’s campaign appearance last month at a franchise location in suburban Philadelphia, the communication team was likely gearing up for a crisis that struck at one of the company’s core values.

On Oct. 20, 2024, the Republican candidate, now president-elect, chatted with supporters through the drive-through window at a Golden Arches in Feasterville, about 20 miles north of the city’s downtown. Two days later, federal agencies announced a “severe outbreak” of deadly E. coli linked to Quarter Pounders served in 10 states. The news threatened the Chicago-based fast-food chain’s reputation for food safety.

The outbreak was ultimately traced to onions from Salinas, California-based Taylor Farms, a family-owned fresh vegetable company that supplies many restaurant chains. The company, which also sells salad bags through grocery stores, had $5 billion in sales in 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported. In 2023, the company had 22 production locations and 24,000 employees, according to the Monterey County Herald.

A spokesperson for McDonald’s declined comment. A spokesperson for Taylor Farms did not respond to emails and a telephone message requesting comment.

We’ll go day by day through the outbreak, closely reviewing the various reactions. Then we’ll draw five lessons for corporate communicators when they face their next crisis.

Consider this a rough draft of a case study of an event that crisis communicators and public relations experts will likely examine.

THE OUTBREAK
Sept. 27: The first case of E. coli is reported. By Oct. 11, the number of stricken people rose to 49, including one death, in 10 states. At some point, company executives learn the illnesses are linked to its restaurants.

Oct. 22: The Centers of Disease Control announced that it and other health agencies are investigating a “severe outbreak” of E. coli linked to Quarter Pounders served at McDonald’s.

Slivered onions or beef patties are the likely source of this outbreak, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said.

The fast-food chain has stopped serving Quarter Pounders in some states, the agencies reported.

McDonald’s quickly posts on its website what it calls an internal message from its chief supply officer for North America.

“Across the McDonald’s System, serving customers safely in every single restaurant, each and every day, is our top priority and something we’ll never compromise on,” Cesar Piña wrote.

At the same time, McDonald’s releases a 90-second video by Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald’s USA.

“Other beef products at McDonald’s, such as the cheeseburger, hamburger, Big Mac, McDouble and the double cheeseburger are not impacted,” he says.

The video is picked up by news outlets, including ABC News, CBS Mornings and  PBS Newshour.

Taylor Farms begins notifying its food service customers that it was recalling onions, according to the FDA. Neither the FDA nor the company publicly announced the move, the Associated Press reported.

Oct. 23: US Foods, a major distributor to restaurants, notifies its customers of a Taylor Farms onion recall, although it does not link the recall to the E. coli outbreak, according to Food Safety News.

Erlinger does a live interview on The Today Show, where he has appeared before. Meanwhile, Taylor Farms confirms the recall in a statement to Bloomberg in a story published at 11 p.m.

Lawsuits begin to be filed in connection with the outbreak.

Oct. 24: Other news outlets published the Taylor Farms’ statement, which, according to Food Safety News, reads:

“We test both raw and finished products for pathogens and have found no traces of E. coli. We have never seen E. coli O157:H7 associated with onions in the past.

“Out of an abundance of caution, Taylor Farms Colorado removed yellow onions from the market produced out of our Colorado facility.

“We continue to work closely with FDA and CDC during this ongoing investigation. Our priority is the health and wellness of our customers and consumers and the safety and quality of our products.”

Meanwhile, other large restaurant chains begin removing Taylor Farms’ onions.

Oct. 25: McDonald’s said about 900 restaurants received Taylor Farms’ onions before the recall. “Food safety is something we will never compromise on.”

The Taylor Farms facility in Colorado Springs issued a statement to KOAA-TV in nearby Pueblo, Colorado, which reads:

“As a family-owned business we take pride in providing safe, healthy fresh foods to people every day. It saddens us to see the illnesses and affected individuals and families from the current E. coli O157:H7 outbreak.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the individuals and their families impacted. Our priority remains the health and safety of our consumers. We have preemptively recalled yellow onions from our Taylor Farms Colorado facility that were sent to select foodservice customers.

“We continue to work with CDC and FDA who are investigating the source of the outbreak. All Taylor Farms products in the market today are safe to consume.”

A version of this statement was posted to the Taylor Farms website but has been taken down. A link to the statement was posted to its social media accounts but has been removed.

Oct. 27: McDonald’s publishes a lengthy “internal message” from Piña, the supply chain executive, who outlines the company’s response to the outbreak and thanks public health officials.

The company also releases a second video in which Erlinger recalls, “I got a call that nobody in the food business ever wants to get. It went something like: ‘Joe, we’re hearing reports of E. Coli in certain states.’”

In the video, which lasts 2:46, he adds:

“I also want to address customers who ate at McDonald’s and are feeling any number of things: ill, scared, or uncertain. I know that our relationship is built on trust. You trust us to serve you safe food every time. On behalf of the McDonald’s system, I want you to hear from me: we are sorry. For those customers affected, you have my commitment that, led by our values: we will make this right.”

Oct. 28: McDonald’s foot traffic in the U.S. fell more than 6% during the three days after the outbreak.

Oct. 29: Chairman and CEO Chris Kempczinski began a conference call to discuss the company’s quarterly earnings by addressing the outbreak.

“On behalf of the entire system, we are sorry for what our customers have experienced,” he says. “We offer our sincere and deepest sympathies, and we are committed to making this right.”

Oct. 30: The CDC and the FDA confirm that slivered onions were the cause of the outbreak. Ninety people have come down with E. coli from the first case on Sept. 27 through Oct. 16. Twenty-seven people have been hospitalized and two patients have suffered from kidney failure. There have been no additional deaths since the first fatality.

McDonald’s posts identical statements about the outbreak for the first time on social media. “A Message to our Fans” was posted to X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, but not TikTok.

Taylor Farms has not posted on social media about the outbreak since removing the link to its statement. On Oct. 22, the day the E. coli outbreak was announced, the company posted on Instagram about a salad kit sold at grocery stores.

Lessons Learned
After closely reading the communications by the two companies and the federal agencies, we have five recommendations or reminders for comms teams when facing their next crisis.

1. Be quick. Chicago PR expert Kathleen Connelly, who died in 1998, had a simple formula for crisis communications: “Tell it all, tell it accurately and tell it fast.”

McDonald’s issued its first statement quickly after the federal agencies’ announcement. In contrast, Taylor Farms didn’t immediately announce the recall when it began, leaving the task for one of its customers, US Foods.

2. Keep at it. “They say, ‘Feed a cold, starve a fever.’ But when you’re in the middle of a crisis, the news media is a fever you must feed,” we’ve written.

As the crisis unfolded, McDonald’s kept reporters busy. It issued four statements from Oct. 22 to Oct. 30, plus Kempczinski’s comments during the earnings conference call. The short videos by Erlinger helped broadcast outlets.

Erlinger also did an interview on The Today Show on the morning after the announcement. Interviews tend to have greater credulity with the public and often get wider pickup coverage by other news media than press releases.

Whether McDonald’s received additional interview requests could not be determined. At the start of a crisis, one on-the-record interview can be a sound approach. Better to wait to see how the crisis develops.

In similar circumstances, many veteran comms teams hold briefings by a senior executive for groups of reporters. The ground rules must be agreed to in advance, but often the information is provided “on background.”  If published, the information cannot be attributed to the executive but can be attributed to a “company spokesperson.”

3. Listen. “Crisis communication involves listening,” my colleague Nick Lanyi has written. “When you get feedback, adjust your messages accordingly.”

If your company limits itself to public statements, experienced public relations professionals often will talk off the record with trusted reporters. Listening to their questions can give you valuable information about whether your messages are resonating with your audiences.

4. Show empathy. During a crisis, “everything you write should be with a spirit of understanding what people are going through,” we’ve said.

Taylor Farms expressed concern about the people with E. coli on Oct. 25, saying, “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the individuals and their families impacted.”

That statement came two days before Erlinger apologized in the second video. That’s ironic given the produce company’s minimal communication during the crisis.

5. Get social. “While social media can amplify criticism and raise awareness of a crisis, it also offers exciting communication opportunities for those who are well-prepared with a solid plan,” according to the editorial director of “Crisis Communication and Social Media,” a report published last month by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

Fifty-four percent of Americans prefer to get their news on social media, barely less than the percentage that prefers news sites and apps, according to a Pew Research survey published in September.

McDonald’s eight-day wait before addressing the crisis on social media is a head scratcher. The decision must have been thoroughly debated by the comms team.

What’s next?
McDonald’s foot traffic in the U.S., which was already down this year, fell more than 6% during the three days after the outbreak, the Journal reported. The company said the outbreak wouldn’t have a material impact on its 2024 earnings.

During the conference call with analysts, Kempczinski acknowledged that McDonald’s faces a challenge: “How do we make sure that we are reinforcing the trust that we’ve earned over the years with our customers on food safety?”

Taylor Farms faces its own challenge.

In a 2021 interview, Chairman and CEO Bruce Taylor said: “The produce has to be not only fresh and flavorful, but also has to be as safe as possible both for the sake of the industry and for the consumer. That’s what lets me sleep at night.”

He’s probably had some sleepless nights recently.

Tom Corfman is a senior consultant with Ragan Consulting Group who holds the ketchup but not the onions on his Quarter Pounders.

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