A growing epidemic of E. coli linked to McDonald’s hamburgers sold in the United States landed the multinational in court, and a food safety expert has since assessed the possibility of a similar incident occurring in Australia.

One U.S. customer died from a bacterial infection, 22 others were hospitalized, and 52 additional cases were identified, spread across 13 states in the western and midwestern regions of the United States.

McDonald’s officials said a California company that produces onions used in Quarter Pounder burgers may be responsible for the spread, and stores in 12 states have already removed the ingredient from their cooking processes.

Cesar Pina, the fast food chain’s supply chain director, ruled out Sunday that Quarter Pounder beef patties were the source of the infection, after the Colorado Department of Agriculture said all Subsamples of several batches of fresh and frozen McDonald’s brand beef patties had tested negative. for E. coli.

The company said in a statement that sliced ​​onions from a Taylor Farms facility in Colorado Springs had been distributed to about 900 McDonald’s restaurants, including some in transportation hubs like airports, and confirmed that it had decided to stop sourcing products from the facility “indefinitely.”

Quarter Pounder burgers without sliced ​​onions will be available at all U.S. restaurants in the coming week.

A McDonald’s Australia spokesperson told the ABC there were currently no concerns about food safety standards or the quality of burgers in any of its 1,044 stores.

An outbreak of E. coli could occur in Australian fast food restaurants?

Gary Kennedy, managing director of food safety consulting group Correct Food Systems, said E. coli is usually spread to meat or other products through animal feces or poor personal hygiene, but that in Australia, strict regulations govern the hospitality sector to prevent outbreaks.

“E. coli in raw meat is not uncommon, but it is an easy insect to kill and normal cooking will kill it.

“The onions are also washed in a water bath like in amusement park slides, (they are) constantly turned over like in a washing machine with 200 parts per million of chlorine which not only washes them, but the chlorine kills micro-organisms.

“You could get cross-contamination with dirty, unwashed hands… But the rules in Australia say you have to wash your hands after using the toilet and when you enter a food premises.”

Mr Kennedy said these provisions make it unlikely that bacteria like E. coli will grow in products consumed by Australian fast food consumers in Australia.

He also said a more dangerous strain of the bacteria has spread to the United States due to customer expectations about how well food is cooked, which differs from Australians’ views.

“In the United States, there is a strain of E. coli called O157, which is quite common there and causes symptoms including kidney failure.

“Americans like their meat to bleed a little bit and Australians really don’t like it. We like our meat to be well done when it comes to a burger and that’s to our advantage.

“We tend not to have the same dangerous strains in Australia as usual.”

What are the food safety laws in Australia?

The Federal Government regulates the domestic hospitality sector with the Australian New Zealand Food Standards Code and the Australian New Zealand Food Standards Act 1991.

Federal law states: “A food business must take every possible step to ensure that it accepts only food protected against any risk of contamination” and directs businesses to “take every possible step to process only safe and appropriate foods.

To avoid potential contamination, Australian food suppliers are legally required to cool food from 60 degrees Celsius to 21°C within two hours, from 21°C to 5°C within the next four hours, and to use a rapid reheating process.

Australian food handlers must also follow regulations requiring them to wash their hands thoroughly around ready-to-eat or raw foods and after using the toilet.

Penalties for breaching food safety laws vary between each state and territory and range from fines of up to hundreds of thousands to potential prison sentences.

What would happen if there was an outbreak of E. coli in Australia?

McDonald’s stores in the United States have removed Quarter Pounder products, sliced ​​onions or beef patties from their menus while federal public health investigations are underway.

Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald’s USA, also released a video statement on October 22 confirming that E. coli had not been found in other beef products sold by the chain.

Mr Kennedy says if a similar outbreak were to occur in Australia, the immediate response from affected businesses would be to follow suit and start recalling contaminated ingredients.

“Under the law in Australia, the restaurant industry… is not legally required to do recalls, but in the case of a major brand like KFC or McDonald’s, Qantas, Hilton, an organization whose restaurant base has a strong brand reputation presence, they don’t want to run the risk of other people getting sick or appearing unresponsive.

“A lot of these big chains, if there’s a food poisoning outbreak, they’re going to be very upfront with the media about letting them know what’s going on.

“In a restaurant chain, an airline or a hotel chain, if there’s a problem with an ingredient, you usually throw it away, or if the supplier says ‘we’ll get it back,’ they’ll put it on the market .Wait, they’ll isolate it so it can’t be used.